Knock Out's sparkling
by Mrs.Knockout
Summary: Life's hard. Personally, I think people who say that are cowards and self-pitying people. They should try to live with the Decepticon elite as a human. A tiny, worthless vermin. The only reason I'm still alive is that I'm of use to my leader. And that I just so happen to be the adopted creation of Decepticon medic and scientist, Knock Out.
1. A human sparkling

**Hi!**

**New story! And this time with (guess who) Knockout! XD**

**You have to know, that in my imagination, this was the KO of transformers Prime. The starscream will be the one of Armada or G1 (not the MOVIE screamer!) and adn please don't be too disappointed, because you won't read much about the Autobots in this story... **

**Anyway, have fun!**

**Knockout's sparkling**

The screaming had stopped at the same time with the begging and the ground was blood soaked. I transformed the saw blade on my right arm back into my five fingered hand. I smirked triumphantly.

The sun had already set and the moon filled the environment with an eerie light. It was night.

"Are they all dead?" Megatron questioned in his I'm-king-of-the-universe-and-no-one-can-stop-me-now tone.

His blades disappeared in the dark silver armour and his blood red optics wandered around the area.

'He's even creepier when it's dark!' I noticed in awe.

It was a miracle that there were moments when he was even creepier than right now.

My look drifted to Breakdown who simply shrugged and said "They don' seem alive to meh."

With an annoyed growl my master turned to me.

"Knock out. Make sure that they truly are dead. We don't want the Autobots to think we would show any of them mercy, do we?"

He said the last sentence with his dangerously calm voice. A grin spread across my face. "Of course not, my lord."

My Master was a few heads bigger than me, so refusing wasn't really an option, unless I wanted to be nothing more than a scrapheap. He lifted his chin, gave me a last I-see-everything glance and transformed into his cybertronian jet-mode.

When I started walking past the numerous dead human bodies and searched for a life signal, the other Decepticons returned. To my dismay, none of the humans had survived our bloody attack. I didn't get any life signals, though I would not dare to refuse my masters orders. The only living thing was a black bird sitting on a bunch of scrap metal.

Bored, I went past the last of the corpses, when I suddenly heard a little whimper. The saw blade came to live again and the smile on my face widened.

"Come out; come out, where ever you are." I whispered in a dangerous sing-song voice, while stepping forward.

When I got closer to the whimper, or the human that had caused it, I stopped and listened carefully. Indeed, I could hear the heartbeat of this pitifully hiding human. A laugh escaped my system as I stepped closer, close enough to know that the insect hid itself under this lump of collapsed stonewalls.

Without hesitating, I lifted the lump up and threw it, with all my power, against a building which wasn't as destroyed as the others.

But when I looked back, I hadn't of expected to see what I did.

There was a human, though it was way smaller than the ones I have seen until now.

It took me a few clicks until I understood what sat there in front of me. A sparkling. A human sparkling.

I have never seen a human sparkling before.

It looked right at me, its big green optics wide open as its mouth formed an 'o'. There were red curls attached to its head, which jumped with every little movement and it moved a lot 'cause its small frame was shivering the whole time. I guessed that she was horrified by the sight of a Decepticon so close to her.

I never killed a sparkling before, but this was just a human!

"Get over with it, Knockout." I encouraged myself.

The blade, which had offlined itself at the sight of this sparkling, roared to life again. As my arm came closer, the sparkling started whimpering, terrified, and it stared up at me, liquid coming out of its optics. It hugged itself and tried to get as far away from me as it could, which wasn't far, because there was a massive wall in its way.

When it looked at me again, I could clearly see the fear in its optics. 'She, Knockout. She's a femme.' I corrected myself.

I must confess, she looked pretty cute.

Could I really kill a little sparkling? Megatron would, Starscream probably would too... but her hair seemed to be the same shade of red as my paintjob! It was a very beautiful red. Her lips began to shiver and her eyes widened even more.

My spark began to hurt at that sight. I can't remember it doing that before at the sight of any Autobot or human dying.

My saw blade transformed into a hand again and I slowly kneeled down, anxious not to scare her.

"My, My. What are we going to do with you?" I whispered.

She watched me without moving. Her frame had stopped shaking, so that she could crawl a bit closer to me and I wondered if she was as afraid as she was curious.

When my hand got closer to her, her little fingers grabbed one of mine and I gently lifted her up. After a few clicks of staring at each other, she gave me a smile.

It was such a bright smile, that my spark seemed to melt and I thought to myself 'I can't kill such a creature, can I?'

She looked so helpless, but was a Decepticon allowed to show mercy? No.

With a sigh, I decided, that it would be right to obey my masters command.

Wait... since when did I do what was right?

A part of me yelled at the other one for the thought of betraying my master, but the other part won.

I looked around to see whether one of Soundwaves drones was around. If he found out, Megatron would scratch my beautiful paintjob! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

When I found no signal, I transformed into my car mode and took the little sparkling with me. She wasn't bleeding anymore, so she wouldn't ruin my seat covers. But just to be sure, I scanned her whilst I turned around. Fortunately, she wasn't seriously injured.

To my defence: her creators had both been killed and how would she be able to survive alone?

With that thought on my processor, I drove into the next small town. I knew taking her with me would be impossible without anyone else finding out, so I decided to give her into human hands. My spark hurt at the thought of leaving her, which gave me no other option than promising myself to guard her. How could I feel so responsible for a little sparkling, and that fast? I'd only just met her, for Primus sake!

'Well, well Knockout.' I thought to myself.

'Just look her in the optics. Who could not?'

Now, I finally understood the Autobots preference for collecting humans. Some of them were rather cute.

Hopefully, Megatron will never find out about that.

During the drive to the next alive town -which was a very long drive- , I thought about what to do.

I already had picked a human as my hologram, maaaaany cycles ago. He had red hair too, which wouldn't complicate my story. Much.

I'd just go in there, give her to the nice femme and if she asks where I got her from, I'd just say, that her parents -whom I had been a good friend of- died during an accident and I was responsible for her, but because of my hard job and so on I hadn't got enough time for her, blah blah blah...

She would give me the address of her new foster parents, so that I could visit her, blah blah blah...

Everything was perfect, except of one detail, I didn't know anything about her! Not even her name!

'Graaahh! C'mon, Knockout!'

I tried to use my nicest tone when I asked her" What is your name, sweetspark?"

WOW. First time in my life that I had EVER used that word. It felt odd.

When I didn't receive an answer I tried something else.

"Where do you come from?"

Speaking that slowly made me feel a bit like a moron, I still didn't receive any response.

I wondered if she was still alive. One look at my rear-view mirror told me she was. She was currently looking around curiously.

I let out an annoyed moan.

"Can you even speak?"

Although it was a rhetoric question, the answer I got was a high chuckle followed by her cuddling into my seat.

"Awww... well, I guess that's kind of... cute."

She then closed her eyes and fell in stasis, just a few seconds later.

"Naaah!"

No matter how cute this sparkling was, it was sooooo stupid!

It hasn't even got a vocal processor! Well, this Bumblebee hasn't got one either, but that was a totally different thing. I felt really stupid, it looked like I was talking to myself!

Okay. Problem one: I didn't know her name, she wasn't able to tell me and without a name, I couldn't act like a friend of her 'sadly deceased family'.

Problem two: I didn't know anything about her!

Problem three: I hadn't even got that, what humans called papers.

Hmmm….

The papers could have been burnt!

Ummmm…. well. Not the best explanation I could muster but I guess it could have been worse.

I might weave something together, so that she at least had a bit imaginary past. And I could think of a name for her.

Perfect! Now Knockout, you just have to google 'How to name a human?', than you'll get the answer to all your problems.

Don't laugh at me, but I actually did that. It was a bad idea though, because all that shows up is total crap and has nothing to do with it.

Should I google 'human names'? ... Naaah.

Why would I want to call her one of these pathetic earth names?

She should get a beautiful and yet strong name! Something cybertronian!

Problem four: I didn't know any Cybertronian femme-names that would fit. The only ones I knew were Arcee, Elita 1, Chromia, Moonstrike and so on, but those were Autobots, and I would call her by no means after an Autobot! And the only Decepticon femme-name I knew was Arachnid. I WOULD RATHER BE PIT SPAWNED THAN CALL HER THAT!

So, HOW THE HELL WAS I GOING TO NAME THIS HUMAN?

I watched her quietly for a few clicks and just thought of the last hours:

_...the sun had already set and the moon filled the environment with an eerie light. It had become night...The only living thing was a black bird sitting on a bunch of scrap metal..._

Okay. How was that going to help me? Should I call her 'eeriebunchofscrapmetal', or 'blackenvironment', or even better, 'blackmoon'?

Well, that's not that bad…..

Wait, was I seriously going to name a little human blackmoon?

Do I really have that little imagination?

... Hang on a nano-click; what about... nightbird?

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**c:**


	2. Third week

_**Hey guys. Another chapter!**_

_**I wanted to get ready with this so it's a bit short...**_

_**Thanks to my beta reader GalaxyWarrioress1234!**_

_**Anyway, hope you like it XD**_

_**Third week**_

"... and I will take care of him myself!"

I looked up, just to have Lord Megatron's back still facing me. Once again, he held another one of his famous I-am-going-to-rule-the-universe speeches for us all to enjoy. This one was about... well... I must confess that I haven't been paying attention to one single word.

"No matter, whether we will have to interrupt our current mission. Though, I might have to..."

I nodded my head approvingly while checking my nails.

My fingers were long and thin and the glistening silver colour fitted them perfectly with my paintjob...

Suddenly, my master stopped talking, so I did what always worked.

"But my lord, are you sure you should...?" I started and got interrupted immediately.

"There may be a small risk for my plan to fail, but I must accept it! How could I let go such a chance? Knock Out; alert the troops, our flyers must be ready!"

With that said, he strode out of the hall. I stood there for a few nano-clicks and repeated everything I could remember from his incomprehensible and dreary speech, which turned out to be rather important.

Then I sprinted out of the hall, across the floor and into the 'territory' of the decepticon flyers.

There, I stopped and walked -like the cool bot I am- straight into Starscreams room.

Obviously, the 'second in command' hadn't of heard me come. He was too busy talking to his self...again!

"..And then, I will be the new leader of the Decepticons!"

I leant against the door frame and crossed my arms over my chest armour.

"Again?" I asked in and amused tone.

Though this wasn't the first time I had caught him, 'thinking loudly' like this, he froze and turned around with a shocked expression on his face.

"How long have you been there for this time, Knock Out?" He asked, exasperated in being caught again.

With a sarcastic pout, I showed him my hand, on which thumb and forefinger had a distance from less than one earth feet.

It was an Earth gesture, but Starscream understood it. His answer was an annoyed optic rolling.

"What do you want, now?"

"Lord Megatron needs your flyers prepared. If I were you, I would hurry. He didn't sound like he planned a tea party, so... better make sure that they are ready for battle."

For only one nano-click, I saw the hatred towards somebot in his optics. I wasn't sure if it was towards me or Megatron, but when he had his face under control again, he smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Tell him to meet us at the entrance, will you?"

The softness in his voice might have made me shiver, but everyone knew that he only used this tone to hide his anger against Megatron.

Many Decepticons underestimate Starscream, but he wouldn't be second in command if he wasn't one of the most deadly Decepticons at all.

Except Lord Megatron, of course.

- When it turned out our leader hadn't got any job for me in his magnificent plan, I decided that my presence could be used better in a different place. So I drove to her.

Now, three weeks later, I managed to get involved into her 'family' as her 'uncle'. Well, I should be like an uncle to her, but I was more father than the pathetic guy that decided to adopt Nightbird!

His wife was quite nice... but not so much that I could have liked her. Nightbird didn't like any of them either.

Though she couldn't talk yet, I knew that she liked me more than them. Probably I could make something better than a human out of her.

I let my hologram appear and drove in the street where her little house stood.

Nobody has had any argument against me visiting her, so I was welcome to come whenever I wanted.

Parking in front of their garage, I let my holoform exit my vehicle mode.

When standing in front of the door, I put on my most charming smile and rang the doorbell. As always, the women opened the door. Scrap, what was her name again? I would never be able to remember it, or the one of her husband.

A warm smile spread across her face as she led me in.

We exchanged some ordinary things like 'How are you?', ' Good weather, isn't it?' and 'Nice to see you again.' And, like every time 'I'm glad you spend some of your time with her.'

He wasn't home... as always. To my confusion, I got angry at that statement. This human should spend some more time with my sparkling!

Yes, after three weeks I got used to calling her 'my sparkling'. Well, it was me who had saved her in the first place, not her foster parents!

When I stepped into her small pink painted room, I had to look twice, until I found her. She was cuddling herself into the chest of a (for humans) giant teddy bear.

I chuckled. When she heard that, she slowly opened her big green optics and let out a dozy yawn. Her look drifted across the room, until it met mine. Then, she suddenly squealed happily and stretched her arms into my direction.

Again, I smiled, but this was a real smile.

I walked towards her, picked her up and started humming cybertronian words to her. After all, I still was a scientist, so I couldn't resist the chance of knowing whether a human could learn our language.

Nightbird couldn't talk yet. The humans, who took her for medical care, had estimated her age of a bit more than one year.

I gently stroked her red curls. She closed her eyes again and leaned her head against my hand.

I walked over to the chair at the other side of the room, sat down and continued talking to her in cybertronian.

Of course I only did that when her foster parents weren't near. They would ask too many questions and I really wasn't in the mood for that. Actually, I was never in the mood for that.

It only took a single earth hour, until I received a comm.

:: Knock Out, we are in need of immediate medical assistance! Return to base now!::- Starscream ordered.

I let out an annoyed sigh. The bad thing about being a medic was you have no vacation whatsoever.

::Give me a few minutes. ::- I replied.

The smile on my face faded when I gave Nightbird a gentle kiss on her cheek and sat her next to her giant teddy.

"Goodbye, sweetspark."

I received one last disappointed glance and left the room.

Without saying goodbye to the homeowners, I shut down my hologram and drove off. It took me less than a nanoclick to get to the Decepticon base, because somebot had tracked my signal and sent me a spacebridge.

One of the drones had done it. You know the guys, that hadn't even have a name since they never live long enough.

I transformed and waved my left hand for showing that no instructions were necessary.

The journey to my medical bay was very short. I just had to go left and then it was straight ahead.

As the door opened I walked straight into the room, not expecting what was waiting for me.

"Doctor in the house!" My optics widened a fraction "….Wow... what happened to you lot?"

Almost half of the Decepticons was in here, some of them just for helping the others but most were seriously injured.

Megatron stood in the middle of the hall and looked... pleased.

"Your sorrows seemed to be unnecessary, Knock Out. The plan worked, as I assumed. Now, get to work!"

Now, I had no reason to smile anymore. What has he planned?

"So... who's gonna tell me what happened?" I asked while walking towards Starscream, whose body leaked energon out from literally everywhere.

"We attacked the Autobots at one of their missions, without even trying to kill the prime!"

I stopped fixing the second in command and looked up at Thundercracker who had given the statement.

"Why?"

"He wants the Prime to believe we're getting weaker, so that he starts to overestimate his troops. Then we'll be there... but they won't. Not for long."

When I did the coarsest on Starscream, I continued fixing the others.

"Phew... This could take a while..." I mumbled to myself, boredness already seeping into my systems.

Suddenly, I received another Comm. But not from a Decepticon.

:: Hello Markus, this is Hannah!:: The voice on the other end hollered.

Yes! That was her name. Hannah!

::I am guessing that you are busy, so I'll make it short. Nightbird started speaking! Isn't that cute? Well, she doesn't say anything understandable, only weird sounding babble, but anyway she's speaking!:: She exclaimed.

Weird sounding babble? Is that really worth calling me for? This femme was overreacting! Again!

Without wasting another thought about it, I got back to work.

_**Me again.**_

_**Sorry for this one getting a bit short and so on...**_

_**But I really wanted to post this today!**_

_**Please review! **_

_**Happy easter! c:**_


	3. guilty Conscience

**New chapter proofread by Galaxywarrioress1234. **

**I am really sorry, but this will be the last "little Nightbird" chapter. There's going to be a (hopefully) more interesting story.**

**Guilty Con-science**

I gave my rear-view mirror a short glance to check over my, hopefully, flawless hair and make sure it was okay. Well, the human femme behind me should think that, because I already stood in a traffic jam for about half an hour and I guess it wouldn't be normal for a human just to sit there in the car and not do anything.

After a few more minutes I turned the radio on and started whistling to a song called "I will survive". It seemed to be something a human would do...

But when I saw the femme in the car behind me, which had a totally boring paintjob, started to laugh, I realized that humans would not normally do that.

In a desperate attempt to save my dignity, I stopped whistling for a moment, looked at her through the rear-view mirror, straight in the eyes, and winked at her with an irresistible smile. I then continued to whistle.

She stopped laughing, smirked at me and shook her head in amused disbelief.

'_Damn!_' I inwardly growled when the traffic jam dissolved.

I just had started having fun by flirting with this human femme! In a few more minutes, she may have given me her number. '_She wouldn't have been the first.'_

Finally I let it go with a shrug. '_Maybe next time..._'

I turned up the radio to full blast and drove down the street.

A few days had passed since I've been here the last time. Repairing Starscreams troops had taken much longer then I had expected.

After that, I hadn't been in the mood for visiting Nightbird. At least I have now had a damn long recharge cycle.

When I parked in front of the little two-storey yellow house, I was still whistling. I threw the door shut and walked inside the house.

…What was her name again? Well, she had given me a second key, so that I could come in whenever I wanted to.

"Helloooo? Anyone home?" I hollered.

As an answer, I received a high pitched squeal. Instantly recognizing it, I scowled. '_They left her alone again? Couldn't they take her with them when they went away?'_

I jogged the up the stairs and opened the door, just to see little Nightbird cuddling into big Mrs teddy bear again.

"So how's it babblin'?" I joked.

Not that she could understand it... well; I hadn't expected her to anyway.

"Pain'job!"

My optics widened a fraction. '_Did she just say paintjob? In cybertronian? __**PAINTJOB?**_'

She squealed again and held out her hands demandingly in my direction. Without even thinking about it, I stepped forward and picked her up, so that we were optic to optic. It then sank in.

She could speak! CYBERTRONIAN! Well, the fact her first word was paintjob actually shouldn't have surprised me. It was one of the things which I talked to her mostly about. And yet I felt like I was going to faint.

"Pain'job! Pain'job!"

A hysterical laugh then escaped from my throat.

My knees began to shake and I simply sat myself on the ground.

"Can you say anything else other than that?" I asked, shockingly softly.

With that, her mouth formed to a heart-breaking pout and her optics grew bigger and bigger. I feared the worst, until she suddenly started to grin and proudly pronounced "Knock Out!"

I then passed out.

"Knooooooooooooooouuuuu!"

I refused to open my optics. For Primus sake I was so damn tired!

"Knockou! Knoooooooockouuuu!" she screamed right into my hologram's face.

"Naaaah!" I mumbled, irritated, and rolled to the side so that she fell of me.

My optics tore open when I realized what I just had just done, and then it started. First there was a silent whimper, immediately followed by her starting to cry. A howl escaped from her throat as she began to sob.

"No,no,no,no,no. No sweetspark, I didn't mean it!" I desperately tried to reassure her, but she wouldn't stop. So I picked her up, sat her on my lap and gently rocked back and forth, her head resting on my chest, my hands caressing her hair and my mouth still mumbling apologies.

She still sobbed, even though it was a silent sob. Nevertheless, it didn't seem as if she would stop within the next megacycle. An idea then popped up in my head.

"Hey lil' lady, you feel like a drive?"

I could really get the fatigue out of my head.

'_How long have I been unconscious? Scrap! I hate these fragging' earth clocks!'_

_'Yep. I still don't know how to read them. Why should I? I'm gonna life longer than this planet will.'_

I didn't wait for an answer which I had doubt to come from her, I just picked her up and carried her to my vehicle form.

Tears were still streaked across her little face, but curiosity won over.

While I seated her on the backseat and strapped her on, she tried looking over my hologram's shoulder. The last time, she's been inside of me, was when I rescued her from the battle but then she had been sitting at the front.

I had to smile when her tiny little fingers grabbed the cushion of my seat. Unfortunately, I couldn't shut down my hologram, before I would have left inhabited area, which would take a while.

Actually, I would have driven more than three times the speed I am going at right now.

'_I am not sure if you can even call this speed! But hey, who's the caring and overprotective creator 'round here? Me! New slogan!'_

It really sucks not being able to show those humans my definition of speed. Especially those one like the guy who's just overtaking me!

"How dare you! I'll teach you a less... Naaaah! Right. I'm the caring and overprotective creator. … Oh come on! Who cares?"

With that said, I pulled her seat belt tighter and sped up to... a higher speed, what else?

When I had caught the guy up only a few clicks later, I had expected a lot of things to happen at once because of my carelessness.

_'She's gonna cry again! Man, she's gonna cry again!'_

Yeah, everything but that! She started laughing and clapped her hands full of joy. No fear in hear eyes, she didn't even hold on to something.

"Wow. Guess I got one who likes speed."

That was confirmed when I slowed down. She stopped clapping her hands and pulled her eyebrows together in an offended way.

I couldn't help but chuckle, though didn't make it any better. It had seemingly hit her ego pretty hard.

'_How can a one year old be that smart? …Probably because I'm such a good creator! If she picked me as her model, than she must have got my sensitive ego and my intention for being as good looking as possible, of course.'_

"Sorry, sweetspark. By the way, you look beeeauutiful today, you know that?" I drawled out.

It took a couple of Earth minutes to remember that she shouldn't even be able to understand what I was saying. I took it to be right, when she lifted her small chin and threw her hair back in a conceited way.

I smiled proudly.

'_What do the humans say? The apple does not fall far from the tree. Yeah, that's the one.'_

I turned on the radio again to not bore her senseless while I was driving 'slowly'.

The three-minute drive brought us to a small woodland. Unfortunately, I spend three more minutes with an opened door, waiting for her to get out, until I realized that her growing up wouldn't be as quick as I expected it to be.

That's gonna be fun.

With a sigh, my hologram-me picked her out of the seat belt while she gave off a small squeal and jumped around to the music and sat herself in front of my holo-me.

When my hologram disappeared, and I transformed into my real form, I knew that she remembered how I had saved her. Her green optics nearly scanned my body, showing no fear, only curiosity.

I picked her up and placed her onto my shoulder, still holding her with one hand in case she fell down.

This was the first time; I started wondering how to tell her what had happened to her real parents... How to tell her, that _I_ may have killed them.

She looked so sweet and innocent! I highly doubted that she would ever be able to harm any living creature.

When her head slowly leant against mine, I felt guilty. For the first time as a Decepticon... For the first time, in my life.

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**c:**


	4. Bad news

_Hiya!_

_New chapter. Short note: _If the conversations are written like this, they're in English. _If they're written like this, they're in cybertronian. (Only in Nightbirds POV)_

_Have fun. :)_

_Nightbird's POV_

"It was horrible!"

I didn't listen to her. I closed my eyes and let the wind flow through my hair.

The sun wouldn't make my skin go darker, no matter how much time I spent outside.

"Helloooo? Do you even listening to me?"

Emily seriously sounded pissed. I didn't mind.

"Nope."

I felt her hand waving in front of my closed eyes and started to grin.

Emily has always been my only friend. We weren't really BF's, but she was the only human I could talk to. My foster parents didn't count; they're way too... strange.

In school, everyone except Emily avoided talking to me. They didn't even look me in the eyes.

When you go to school for the first time, the chance of finding someone with a name like Nightbird is rather small. They bullied me, but only for the first week, until Knockout saw me crying in me room and... well... I have no idea what he did to them, but since then, nobody even dares to look me in the eyes.

Slowly, dramatically, the red car drove around the corner, windows down, stereo on full blast playing 'I'm sexy and I know it'.

"Bye then, birdie." Emily smirked, trying not to lough.

We quickly hugged each other, and I walked towards the car, which had turned the stereo down after I had given him an angry glance

"Do you always have to come late? I mean..."

I jumped into the car and closed the door.

_"If you believe it or not, I'm not always in the mood for waiting for you to pick me up. And could you please stop playing such a crap? They are all staring at us!"_

The stereo was turned on again. "All I want to say is that, they don't really care about us!"

I laughed and leaned back. _"Sure thing. Where are we going? You were supposed to turn right."_

Knockout released a desperate sigh. _"Gotta talk to you, Nightbird."_

Uh-oh.

Knock Out calling me Nightbird was never such a good thing. Either I had done something _very _stupid, or we've got _bad _problems. Both meant trouble for me.

His voice sounded rough when he explained it to me. _"You can remember what I told you about me, and how you are too young to know the whole story?"_

I nodded. _"You're a Decepticon, from Cybertron, fighting a war and so on. Your master is lord Megatron; the highest and strongest Transformer ever existed. And all that stuff. I remember every single word about it."_

I always begged him to tell me the whole story, but he had told me every single time, that I was too young. Too vulnerable. Though he always promised to tell me every single detail when I was old enough. By now, I was 16. Old enough for my guess, but I know that Knock Out still thinks I'm too young. He'll always think that.

_"You're not gonna tell me the whole story now, are you?"_ I asked hopefully.

_"What?"_ He started laughing. _"How did you come up with that? You're too young."_

I growled and crossed my arms, sticking my bottom lip out in a pout. The rear view mirror turned so that I could see myself. My hair would have been longer than my ribs, but it was so curled that it barely fell over my shoulders. It still was red as fire and accompanied my piercing green eyes perfectly.

I knew he was watching me right now, so I stubbornly looked outside the window.

_"I'm sixteen, Knock. I'd really like to know what's going on here! I did not plan on hiding my whole life!"_

He sighed again. I didn't like seeing him acting so desperate and sad. It just didn't suit him. He wasn't Knockout when he was like this.

_"Listen Nightbird, I will have to go away for some time... while you stay with Hannah and Ron."_

I glanced right into the rear view mirror, shocked. _"You can't leave me with them alone Knock! I won't survive that!"_

Another rough laugh escaped him. _"Of course you will, Night. You're a strong girl and in the worst case, you still can comm me."_

I rolled my eyes. _"You do know that I will do that anyway, every single hour?"_

_"Do not play with me Nightbird. This is serious. Lord Megatron needs me for an important mission."_

That was not new. Megatron often needed Knockout for missions. He sometimes stayed away for weeks or even months, but he always came back. Though he never said sometime, he always said for a short period of time. How long will sometime be? Three months? Half a year? A whole year? Two whole years? Ten whole years? Twenty whole years? Cybertronians haven't got a deadline -literally- they live as long as they want to!

_"How long are you going to be away?"_ I asked quietly.

He heard the fear in my voice and tried to reassure me. _"I'll come back as fast as I can, but you have to understand that I can not..."_

_"For how long?"_

He sighed again. _"That is unknown, but..."_

_"You'll leave me alone is this fragging desert for Primus knows how long?"_

_"Nightbird, I would never do this, if there was another way. I just want what's best for you!"_

He was going to leave me! A tear ran down my cheek. I would be alone with Hannah and Ron. My creepy foster parents who never stopped smiling!

_"Oh... no Night. Come on sweetspark, don't cry."_

He activated his hologram and caught the tear with his finger before it could fall down.

I pulled myself together and straightened my back, chin lifted up, as Knockout had always taught me.

'It makes you look stronger.'

_"Yeah, that's right, birdie. You're strong. You'll handle that!"_

I gave him a sad smile, which he mirrored. I may not have his energon inside me, but we kinda share one personality. I was able to copy his movements and expressions exactly.

One of his arms pulled me closer to him and lay consoling on my shoulder, as we drove back home.

_Knockout's POV_

::Knockout! Return to base, immediately! The mission will be starting earlier than planned.::

I jolted when the rough voice of lord Megatron rumbled through my comm. Link system.

::Of course, my liege.::

I had already been driving in the warship's direction, when the comm. Link had reached me.

Praise the allspark Nightbird wasn't with me anymore.

The bridge opened right in front of me, so that I had no chance to escape, if I would have tried...

I transformed within it, so that I could walk out in slow motion. Well, not a slow motion. Only a bit slower than others would do, just in case anyone hadn't seen my marvellous finish yet.

Sadly, no one was in the room. The bridge operator must have gone away.

I let it go with a shrug. Why should I mind what happened to a bridge operator?

I should have noticed the deadly silence earlier. Actually, this ship must be full with the sounds of troops or drones on their guard, or soldiers talking about random things, but the only thing I could hear were the humming of the ship.

When I finally got into the control chamber I saw the reason for the silence. About every single Decepticon was in the hall, and in front of the giant screen, was no other than lord Megatron himself.

I bowed before him, my optics turned to the floor. "My lord, I came as fast as I could."

He nodded and I rose.

"Knockout, we have to talk." Uh-oh.

"What is going on, master?"

I could have killed myself for my stupid question. Starscream would have gotten angry at this, but Megatron could easily blow me to bits.

With a knowing grin, the Decepticon leader turned his back to me and crossed his arms behind it.

"I must confess I am quite impressed by what you have done."

A confused look appeared on my faceplates. Huh?

"I do not quite understand, my lord."

A rough laugh escaped from his throat. "You hid a human for approximately fifteen years, took care of it and raised it as if it was yours and yours alone. Everything that happened without anyone of us noticing it."

I froze. My body -strained with fear- was not able to move and every inch of my processor planned an emergency plan for Nightbird to get out of all this. Alive.

I felt my face plate fall down, my mouth formed to an O, eyes wide opened in shock.

Another laugh escaped from my leader, this time it shook his whole body.

"Very well. Nevertheless, it was an ignoring of my discrete orders!" He shouted the last part with such a threat in it that I bowed again. My back bending, as I tried to get as low as I could.

I had to beg. I had to save Nightbird. I had to save... my creation.

"I will give you a last chance."

Hope. Was there hope within my processor?

"Terminate the human and I will show you mercy."

No. No. No, no, no, no! Was he serious? He couldn't be! That was impossible! The disgusting thought of letting a creator killing his own sparkling! He sounded just like a... a Decepticon.

I wanted to beg him, to kiss his feet if necessary, I would be worse than Starscream! If only a single word could escape from me. A single chance to save Nightbird! There was nothing else I wished for.

Primus, don't let this happen! Let him kill me, let me suffer; let me die as slowly as possible if necessary, just keep Nightbird, my sparkling, my live from this! From them! Don't let her die!

I prayed. My only chance, so I did not really expected Primus to listen to me. To hear me. But I would hold onto every option to save her.

I fell onto my knees, my whole body shaking.

I am so sorry, sweetspark.

"Killing human sparkling: unnecessary. Soundwave's suggestion: using human as a spy."

"Where are you going with that, Soundwave?"

"Human's abilities: getting in and out Autobot base, without suspicion. Conclusion: human gets coordinates of Autobot base. Reward: Chance to stay alive."

Megatron turned around to face Soundwave for a moment of silence, until his gaze wandered to me.

"You suggest me to let the human spy the Autobots to earn my pardon?"

Soundwave nodded emotionlessly.

I held my breath, as did everyone else. My optics focused onto my leaders. Was Soundwave just trying to save Nightbird's life?

As much as I wished for it, no other argument came over Soundwaves faceplate.

When I looked into the deadly cold eyes of my lord, I could literally see a plan forming within his processors. His cold eyes narrowed and a grin spread across his scarred face.

The joy and happiness I had felt after Soundwaves statement disappeared immediately and my spark sank into my servos. This very grin, made Nightbird become part of a plan which she would unlikely survive. And neither would I.

Am I bad or am I bad?

Do you like where this story is going to?

Should I get more 'little Nightbird' stuff into this story?

What do you think is going to happen?

Please R&R. :)

Proof read by GalaxyWarrioress1234.

Songs:

LMFAO- Sexy and I know it

Michael Jackson- They don't care about us (R.I.P. Michael)


	5. My audience

**Okay, first of all, I'm sorry that it took so long to upload. I'm currently working on other projects for the future.**

**Second, unfortunately I do not own Transformers.**

**Third, R&R and have fun. c:**

My Audience

"Wuaaaaah! Primus help me!"

There she stood, in front of her giant closet, which was more likely empty, because of her throwing everything out of it that her hands could grab. The only thing she wore was her black satin underwear. Just to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea, I'm her creator, so it's alright when I say that she looks beautiful. Well, she always does. Did I already tell that she had that from me? Because she totally did, I mean look at her! I straightened proudly at that thought.

Her pale skin matched her fire red hair perfectly and her thin body nonetheless had its curves.

"Are you... searching for something?"

I had sat on her large bed for quite a while, watching her with an amused expression while she freaked out.

Furiously, she turned around and downrightly jumped into the mountain of clothes.

"I have nothing to wear!" she cried.

I pursed my lips. "Yeah. I can see that."

I had to control myself and not grin at her. I knew she hated that. Just like me.

A growl came out of the clothe mountain.

"You know what I mean!"

That confused me.

"Ummm... nope. What are you talking' about?"

She huffed, exasperated, and slowly walked up to me.

"I. Have. Nothing. To. Wear. For. My. Audience. With. LORD MEGATRON!"

Fortunately, her foster parents weren't home -as usual- so no one heard her.

I rolled my optics and stood up in one swift move.

"It's seriously not that you don't have anything to wear." I commented, glancing towards the clothes pile.

"Yeah. But I cannot wear pink, blue, green, white, purple, yellow or red in his presence. Help me!"

Smirking, I shook my head and walked over to the giant mountain of clothes.

It didn't take me longer than five seconds to pick out dark grey skinny jeans, a black tight tank-top, and a green scarf, from her scarf-wall. She had a serious thing with scarfs. By now, her 'wall' harboured about thirty-five of them.

After she had watched the movie 'Confessions of a shopaholic', her insanity with them had started, so I had bought her this damn expensive green one, which looked exactly like the one from the movie.

To give her the right finish, I picked out a pair of ultra-high, black High-heels and a tight, beige trench coat.

"Oh Primus!" she gasped.

I grinned. "You can call me Knockout."

While she pulled on her clothes, I walked over to her giant closet again.

Inside of it, in the left corner, I spotted the straighteners, packaging and everything.

I could remember the day very well, when I saw it the first time.

_(flashback)_

_"Come on. This can't be that difficult, can it?" Nightbird muttered to herself, taking the mechanical thing and a streak of her curly hair._

_Quickly, I stepped into her bathroom and pulled the plug out of the socket._

_"What the frag do you think you are doing?" I shouted at her angrily._

_Her eyes widened as she replied, terrified: "Straightening my hair?"_

_It came out as a single whisper._

_I had never screamed at her like this before, but what was she thinking?_

_"You were going to ruin it!"_

_She still looked startled, the straightener in her right hand, the streak of her hair falling back onto her forehead._

_I firmly took the straightener out of her grasp and glared at her furiously._

_"Why would you do that?"_

_She looked down in shame._

_"Everyone in my class has straight hair, or only a bit curly, not as extreme as mine is. They all look so beautiful..."_

_"No one looks better than you! Believe me, only because your hair is different from theirs, you have no reason to destroy it!" I retorted._

_"I just wanted to straighten it."_

_I sighed. "You wouldn't get them straight without damaging them, and they're way to beautiful for risking that."_

_She sniffled and started laughing._

_"I can't believe it we're having such a conversation about my hair!"_

_I didn't laugh. "As long as it's yours, it's worth it. It doesn't make sense to me. Why would you want to change yourself? Just because you're a bit different from the others?"_

_Nightbird looked up at me with a desperate expression in her face._

"_I'm an outsider. It doesn't feel good to be different."_

_A rough laugh escaped from my hologram's throat._

_"You've always been an outsider! You know why? Because you're better than the others. They're just humans!"_

_"Oh and I'm so not human!" she countered sarcastically._

_"You're a human with a future. You're the only human on this planet that can speak cybertronian. You are different! But in a good way."_

_"Tell that to my classmates!"_

_"What the..." I scoffed, "You seriously give a shit about what they think? Sweetspark, I am one of the only Decepticons with an Automobile as his vehicle mode! But I am proud about it! You know, I like the way I look in steal belted radials."_

_She snickered, and the sadness in her face had finally disappeared._

_Knock Out, the perfect creator: 1_

_Other Player: 0_

_(end flashback)_

"It looks perfect!"

I quickly turned around to see my black beauty posing in front of the giant mirror next to her giant closet.

"Now while this is set, you need to know some rules."

She faced me with this pretty, innocent smile and sat down on the bed.

I seated myself next to her and took her hand in mine.

"Always walk straight and let nobody see what you feel, okay? Look every Decepticon right into their optics, no matter how high or scary they are. Always stay close to me, until we get to the control room and, probably the most important thing, bow before Lord Megatron and do not rise until he tells you to. Do not look him in the optics while you bow, look at the floor. Always end or start your sentence with Lord Megatron, my lord, my liege, my leader..." I trailed off.

Concerned, she took her hand out of mine and laid it onto my shoulder.

"Don't worry, daddy. I'll handle that."

I may have believed her, if she hadn't called me daddy. She only called me that when she was afraid. Of course she was, though she didn't even know half of the story. And hearing her calling me daddy, made me feel more responsible for her, protective, guilty for everything that would happen to her.

What else could I do to protect her? There was no other option. If we hid, they'd find us, if we ran, they'd catch us. If we refused, they'd kill us.

Inwardly crying, I took her into a close hug and kissed her hair.

"Promise me, you won't leave me there, will you?" she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

My cybertronian body may not be able to cry, but my holoform was.

"Never." I promised, a tear rolling down my cheek and falling onto her hair.

Decepticons don't cry.

"I already told you about Breakdown, didn't I?"

My hologram leaned against the banister and waited for Nightbird to come down.

"Your assistant, best bud and partner." she shouted down the stairs.

I nodded, though she couldn't see it.

"He's going to accompany us to the warship."

Silence.

"I get to see other Decepticons?"

I had to grin when I heard the curiosity and anticipation in her voice.

"Yes."

She rushed down half the stairs only to say "Cool!" and disappeared upstairs again.

"You do know that we have to depart. Otherwise we'll come too late and that wouldn't make a good first impression."

Frantically, she ran down and was outside the door before I could say anything.

Head shaking, I followed her into my vehicle form.

She took a look into the rear view mirror, to check her perfect make-up.

Naturally, big green eyes, pale skin with rosy cheeks.

Megatron wouldn't look at her make-up anyways. He would look at her behaviour, gait and occurrence.

About five minutes after we left the town, Breakdown appeared behind me.

"Is that him?" she asked and turned around on her seat to get a better view.

"You bet!"

Short after Breakdown met up with us, the bridge opened a few metres away.

"Wow. Are we going in there?"

I laughed. "How else are we getting onto a warship?"

Her eyes widened as we drove through the blue tunnel and she looked a bit disappointed when we left it.

"Won't be your last time..." ...I hope.

I opened my door for her, to get out, which she immediately did.

In awe, she stared up at everything and then at the ultra-tall Breakdown.

_Nightbird's POV_

First I had thought 'The Groundbridge is the coolest thing I have ever seen.' Then I had thought 'The warship is the coolest thing I've ever seen' Now I think 'Breakdown is the coolest thing I've ever seen!'

He was at least two heads taller than Knock Out, had dark blue armor and Primus he looked heavy!

I got raised in the knowledge of Lord Megatron being the strongest and best Transformer ever since Primus and Lord Unicron.

If he was even taller than Breakdown... how was I even going to be tolerated?

I was just about to hyperventilate when Breakdown kneeled down and smiled at me.

"So, you are...?"

"Nightbird." I completed his sentence and was proud that my voice sounded totally unimpressed and probably even a bit bored.

Breakdown raised an eyebrow. "She's just like you, Knock Out.", he stated.

I didn't dare looking away from Breakdown, I stared him right into his optics, just as Knock Out told me.

Breakdown started laughing. "You're a tough little girl... for a human."

Knock Out started walking forward and I followed him close behind, trying not to jog.

Breakdown accompanied me and now I knew what he meant with 'no matter how tall or scary they are'.

There were many Decepticons the same height as Knock Out. All looking exactly the same; all armed and purple.

None of them wasted the energy to look at me. It seemed like hours until we finally arrived at the control room.

I don't want to go in there!

Breakdown gently pushed me forward and the door opened.

I straightened more (if that was possible) and stalked into the giant room.

The control room was bigger than my entire house, with two floors. The lower one for normal workers and the upper one was obviously for higher ranked Decepticons.

The one for higher ranked ended in some sort of a long platform with a large screen-like wall in front of it.

The robot who had taken place there was obviously Megatron.

His back was turned into my direction and he was almost two times of Knock Out's height.

The bright polished, silver, armor protected his body with utmost grace and every part of it ended in a sharp jagged piece of metal.

I turned to Knock Out who was a few metres to my left, next to Breakdown and other Decepticons I couldn't name. He imperceptibly nodded and I slowly walked towards the giant bot.

Though the platform was very wide, I was afraid to fall down.

_Breathe slowly, hold your head up, walk straight, and know who you are._

_You aren't a human, you're better than they are. Proof it to your lord and master._

I kneeled down and bowed, studying the metallic floor.

What actually were less than ten seconds, felt like hours to me, until I heard the giant steps and the floor nearly shook.

"You must be the little human." a rough and dark voice said in English. It gave me goose bumps.

"My designation is Nightbird, my lord." I answered loudly.

I could feel his gaze on my skin.

"That is an uncommon name for a human..."

"That's because it's cybertronian!" I snapped.

Everything went silent.

What have I done?

I didn't dare looking up to see him shoot at me, but instead of a sharping noise of the weapons, I heard a rough short laugh.

"Your temper pleases me. Obviously, you are Knock Out's protégée."

I started grinning. He didn't kill me! I made a good first impression!

"As I heard, you seem to have the ability of speaking cybertronian?"

"Yes, my liege." I answered without the smallest trace of an accent.

"Impressive. Raise, Nightbird!"

I did as I was commanded and looked up at him.

Now, while he was standing in front of me, I nearly had to lay my head into my neck, so that I could see his full size.

He took a step back (a big step, well at least for me) so that I could look him in the optics.

Red. Everything was red and I felt as if it would be like this forever.

His eyes had the color of pure blood and though they were from the same color as Knock's, they seemed to be rather deadly, other than comforting and warm.

The scars on his face weren't the best combination with them. Knockout was right. There could have never been someone stronger, braver and more impressive than him without having the title of a deity.

When he started to grin he slowly revealed his teeth which were more like fangs, I suddenly knew why Knock Out feared him. I could get easily torn apart by his muscular arms.

When you ever stand to Lord Megatron's feet, the only thought that comes to your mind is 'I'm not worthy!'

Then he started speaking again.

"I will give you one chance to prove your usefulness for the Decepticon race. You will get me the exact coordinates of the Autobot base. This mission has no temporal limitation. I believe you do already know that you are committed to absolute secrecy."

I nodded. "Yes, my master. Though I do not understand how I am supposed to get the coordinates..."

Another rough laugh.

"That is the problem. You will have to find them out on your own."

Another nod.

"I will not disappoint you, lord Megatron."

He turned around and his back faced me again.

"Of course you won't.", he mumbled and replied a bit louder: "You are allowed to depart, Nightbird."

Hopefully, I looked up to Knock Out, who had pushed out his chest proudly and stood there in the typical that-is-my-girl pose every father went in when their daughter had done something impressive in front of the audience. He then smiled down at me and nodded. Satisfied we left the warship with Breakdown on our side.

"Lady, you were good!" he said and I was in the mood for a high five, but something told me he wouldn't know what that is.


	6. Mission impossible

_****_**Hey guys.**

**I'll be gone for the summerholidays so you won't see any new updates for me until in about...**

**eight weeks. :P**

**Have fun XD**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nightbird's POV<strong>_

Imagining an idea to get into the Autobot base was easy. It was the whole 'Turning the idea into a real plan' that was the hard part.

However, bringing the plan into action was nearly impossible.

It was three o'clock in the early morning and I sat on my bed, with a college block on my lap and a pencil in my right hand. Yesterday I had an audience with lord Megatron and the thought of sleeping was forbidden, at least until I had a satisfactory idea. Neither I would be failing my lord nor disappointing Knock Out.

The rough idea that had formed in my head wouldn't go onto the paper, but I couldn't allow myself to forget anything, that could be helpful.

I planned to, somehow, get an identity as a rookie assistant in topics of law and be working up to the government.

I was good at acting, so if with some research, a perfect costume and much luck, I could get a job as an assistant for the humans working at the Autobot base.

But!

Problem one: How the hell could I look like a just-got-ready law student?

Problem two: How the hell was I going to get a job at the Autobot base?

Problem three: How the hell was I even going to find out, where I can get a job at the Autobot base?

All those questions gave me a sleepless night and I didn't get any further with them. Knock Out may be able to help me tomorrow, I tried to reassure myself. I was so tired!

When I finally managed to fall asleep at 9:15 in the morning, Hannah woke me up at half past ten.

"Morning sleepyhead. Usually you don't sleep that long, do you?"

My hands turned into fists under the blanket. Please, just leave me in peace! The only thing I wish for right now is a bit sleep!

Like a zombie, I walked into the kitchen and made my breakfast. My hair looked all scruffy and I was still in my pyjamas, but I didn't mind. Ron already sat at the breakfast table with the newspapers from yesterday in his hand. Don't ask me why. I always thought he was kinda weird. In a scary way...

"Morning." I greeted without looking him in the eyes, which wasn't necessary, because he never looked into mine either.

"Morning" he replied cheerily.

Without another word, I ate my muesli and went back into my room.

A desperate sigh escaped from my throat when I grabbed my college block again.

_**Knockout's POV**_

_Flash back:_

On the back seat, Nightbird played with her seat belt while I carefully drove down the road and onto the parking lot of a human supermarket called 'Waldemar'. Hannah had given me some money and a shopping list to buy some things for Nightbird.

Confessedly, I have already been overwhelmed by just looking at the list.

There were things on it of which I didn't even know what they exactly were.

"Let's get this over with." I froze when I realized I had last said these words, but shook it off immediately.

My holoform got Nightbird out of the car and set her on his shoulders.

She joyfully played with my hair and snickered some words in cybertronian.

"Where are we going?" she then asked with a childish voice in an accent less English.

After she had once started talking to Hannah in cybertronian, I had told her to speak it only to me and use English with humans instead.

"Hannah wants us to go buy some things." I answered absentmindedly.

Nightbird hated not to get my full attention. She growled and pulled at my hair.

"What's Knock thinkin' 'bout?"

I grinned. "Just some things. Nothing special. It'd bore you."

She didn't ask again.

When we went in the building, I took one of these things with rolls, where you could put your purchase in. Nightbird seemed to be pretty happy in it, so I took the list and went on searching each and every of these aisles without even finding half of the things on it.

"Are you searching for something?"

I quickly turned around by the sudden sound of a female voice behind me.

A tall, brunette, pretty femme stood in front of me, her head cocked slightly, a bright smile on her face.

"Why yes. I'm searching for many things." With an uncertain smile, I gave her the list.

"You don't go shopping very often, do you?" I nodded and grinned. Then, suddenly, Nightbird rose from her place in the... thing, and her arms possessively grabbed mine.

"Awwww! You're a real cutie, aren't you? What's her name?" the femme asked, her eyes glowing.

I took my chance and played the perfect creator, by getting her out of the thing and taking her in my arms. She cuddled up against my chest and looked winningly at her potential rival.

"Nightbird."

The femme locked surprised for a moment, then reminded herself to be polite again.

"Hello, little Nightbird. Are you going shopping with daddy?" she said to her and then to me, "You have a cute daughter."

I thought it was best to maintain my cover.

"Actually, she's my brother's daughter but tragically, he and his wife died in a car accident about three months ago. I saw it as my duty, to raise her by myself instead of giving her to foster parents."

A shocked expression covered her face and then she gave me a quick hug.

"Oh my god! You poor little thing! And you! You are so brave, doing all this for your brother!"

She gave Nightbird a kiss on the forehead and then hugged me again. I'm starting to find my own advantage in the human's compassion. I thought pleased.

I put on a sad expression. "I just do what I have to. Now, could you help me finding these things? It's my first time going shopping for her."

The femmes gaze softened. "Oh that's easy. Everything you search is over there. I am truly sorry, that I have to go, but if you ever need some comfort within your hard times", she pulled out a calling card, and "then please do not hesitate to call me. And by the way, I'm Megan."

I smiled thankfully. "Marcus.", I replied. Unfortunately, I doubt that I would call her. Though, she may was a real beauty and something let her stick out of the crowd of women, who had given me their numbers.

Another smile and she hurriedly hushed around the corner.

I wasted a look at the calling card, then gave it to Nightbird and sat her back into the... thing.

The shelves were filled with many things, some of them confused me a bit, some of them nearly made me laugh. All in all, going shopping was actually quite amusing, but I had to laugh so hard, when I realized, that the carry-buggy-thing with Nightbird in it was already full.

She was continuously filling it with everything she found within the shelves.

I started packing the stuff out, but she just put more in it.

"Would you stop that for at least one minute?" I laughed and received a warm smile from an old woman near us.

Nightbird's gaze caught mine and with a mischievous grin, she shook her head.

"You are so stubborn!"

When I finally had given up and just stood there, waiting for her to get bored by her little game, I somehow understood, why we weren't allowed, to have such a close relationship to our creations. If I would lose her, it would kill me too.

_(Flashback ends)_

I had to grin at that memory.

As always, when I wasn't with Nightbird or on one of Lord Megatron's missions, I was in the med bay and fixing a flyer. Somehow, the second in command had gotten himself into the Autobots hands again, without even having a real mission! 'There, he just flew around and, out of the blue, the prime appeared and shot him down', how he (truly convincingly) expressed.

"So, doctor. How is your little human doing? Did she already found something? You know how impatient our lord and master can be."

The words were full of irony and derision. Starscream knew more than anybody else, how it ends to fail the Decepticon's leader. He went through much more punishment than I knew. His and Megatron's story started many years before the war and the end still won't be visible, though I guess I know how Starscream wants it to end. Well, becoming the Decepticon leader himself was what everyone expected to be Starscreams goal, but actually, nobody could be certain except him and Primus himself.

"Yes, Starscream. She has already found the Autobot base, blew it up and is just right now getting all the credit from lord Megatron that you always wanted." I gave him a winning grin.

The second in command, however, didn't mind at all. "So she doesn't even know where the base is?"

"Do you?"

"No, but it is not my mission either, Knock Out. Better watch your sparkling... accidents happen, you know?"

His last words came out as a purr and I -without wasting a last look at the second in command- left the room.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

_Some weeks later:_

Somehow, Knock Out had managed to obtain papers for me. Faked papers. A passport, a driver's license, a curriculum vitae (which says that I have studied at Stanford and went out with a phenomenal diploma) and a letter of recommendation from my old professor with his number on it (the professor is going to be acted by the ingenious Knock Out, of course).

My new identity was called Lara Rye, 24 years old (yes, somehow Knock Out had managed to make me look that old!) and is actually from Indonesia (I'll have to wear a wig and much make-up).

My family moved to the USA twenty years ago, I skipped one class in High school and was all in all a total genius and so on. I studied law in Stanford and was trying to get a job.

I can speak fluent English, German, Indonesian and a little French. (Actually, I couldn't say more than 'Pekerjaan Pengecatan' in Indonesian. Knock Out taught me that.)

The rest was true, except for the little detail that Cybertronian was missing, but adding that to the list, would only get me a lot of trouble.

Yes, I could speak some languages, but two of them were my mother tongues, so...

Oh, and just by the way, I. GOT. A. JOB! Not at the Autobot base, but at least a small success.

I worked at the embassy and so far, I did a good job.

It was quite hard, working there and giving 250%. I'm currently getting 5 hours sleep per night and in my free time; I do things for my work and Primus that's stressful!

I lost over 5 kilos within two weeks! Knock Out has to force me to eat, because there's just so much work to do! And it'll never cease. But I got to get into the Autobot base somehow!

I quickly gulped my muesli down and grabbed my bag. A last look in the mirror to proof whether the dark black wig looked okay and I rushed out into the red sports-car parked in front of the garage.

My foster parents didn't know that I wasn't going to school anymore. Knock Out had taken that over for me. He smoothly drove down the streets to the embassy which was located many hundred kilometres away from here. After we left the city, a groundbridge appeared before us, and transported us directly onto the parking lot of the embassy.

No one was there yet, and Soundwave had somehow managed it, that somehow, always when the groundbridge appeared, the surveillance cameras accidentally went offline for a few seconds. Yep, he was... uhhhh... There was no word that could describe his genius!

"Be careful, will you?" Knock Out asked without using his hologram.

I had to smirk. This question had become a tradition.

"Promised."

As if I was still in elementary school, he watched me until I got inside the building.

The groundbridge opened again, when the door closed behind me.

Hello work!

_**3rd POV Decepticon Warship**_

Soundwave walked down the warship's aisle, passed a few Vehicons and went straight into the control room, where lord Megatron already awaited him.

"Soundwave, are there any differences?"

No word. As always, the communication's chief didn't talk unless it was absolutely necessary, he just gave his master a slow headshaking.

"Alright then. Then I believe we'll have to try again."

The dark lord gave the Vehicons a sign to leave and only nanoclicks later, the control room was empty except from Soundwave and Megatron himself.

"Are there any reactions of our little audience with Nightbird?"

It surprised the communication's chief that his lord used the human girl's name, but he wouldn't show that, as usual.

Instead, he replied one of the warrior's reactions. It was Knock Out's assistant and partner Breakdown, who accompanied them back to the bridge operator.

"Lady, you were good!"

Then he switched to Airachnid, who had been on an important mission. The spider-like Decepticon had only raised an eyebrow until a light grin had spread across her face.

Megatron watched all of that without moving a single muscle. Each and every Decepticon's reactions, until Starscreams.

"So, doctor. How is your little human doing? Did she already found something? You know how impatient our lord and master can be."

"Yes, Starscream. she has already found the Autobot base, blew it up and is just right now getting all the credit from lord Megatron, that you always wanted."

"So she doesn't even know where the base is?"

"Do you?"

"No, but it is not my mission either, Knock Out. Better watch your sparkling... accidents happen, you know?"

The record ended and the look on Megatron's face had darkened. He looked at his communication's chief for a few clicks, until he crossed his servos behind his back.

"I believe it would be best, if Ravage would keep an optic on Nightbird while she is near Starscream. I would love to see her results..."

The Decepticon's leader turned around and Soundwave left the control room. Lifting Laserbeak up, he let Ravage eject. The black armoured Cybercat looked with his blood red optics up to his master while he received the order, then; he sped down the aisle and disappeared around a corner.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay guys, please R&amp;R and...<strong>

**NB: Dad, who is that?**

**KO: I have no idea really!**

**NB: Seriously? Then, why is her name Mrs...**

**KO: I told you I have no clue! *transforms and drives away***

**NB: Hey! You come back here!**

**SW: Order: Leave Review. Reward: Merci. Punishment: Watching the whole Movie Attack of the killertomatoes aka your dead. **

**Öhm... thank you Soundwave. **

**Though I think that punishment would be a bit to strong, wouldn't it...?**

**Anyways, your heard the communications chief!**

**Do as he commands!**


	7. Success?

**Hiya guys. I had to correct this chapter once more :p **

**But only because of some writing mistakes a few of you probably have already noticed ;)**

** Have fun :D**

Success?

"And you think you are capable of handling a job such as this one?"

Charlotte Mearing was sitting in front of me behind an orderly, dark russet desk. To orderly if you ask me. I -as always- was smiling in a business-like manner, back straightened, chin held up, just like Knock Out always told me to.

"Yes, I believe I will be capable."

She nodded coldly. "Then I am deducing you are going to take the offer, Mrs Rye?"

Now it was my turn to nod. As far as I knew, she was from the government and needed me for assistance in an 'extremely secret and dangerous' area. I smirked. What irony it would be if they'd called it 'Area 51'. Unfortunately, I couldn't be sure whether I really was on my way to the Autobot headquarters. It could also be something military with poison or weapons or so on...

"You will be here tomorrow at 6 o'clock in the morning, is that understood?"

She stood up and smoothed her skinny, long skirt. "We will be picking you up, then. Any questions left?"

'Oh, yes! Is it the Autobot base, I am going to work at?'

"No, of course not, Mrs Mearing."

Within our conversation, I had noticed that, if you wanted to remain on her good side, you should never, ever call her ma'am. Fortunately, it hadn't been me who had made this grave mistake. A soldier had said it when he came in. Don't ask me why there was a soldier walking around here. Anyways, I don't think he'll ever come back.

Stalking outside, she picked up her coat and disappeared with a last monotone "Good day."

For five long minutes I stayed in my seat and just grinned. I had made it. I had finally made it. Months of work had finally given me a reward. I hadn't expected my plan to work. There were so many people out there who could have gotten this offer. Maybe, Primus wanted me to get it...

While I made my way out of the building, I was still trying to stop grinning. The walls and people were blurred under a veil of tears. My happiness was on the same level with the hope of earning my leaders respect. I was just an insect, but maybe this would show him, that I was capable of doing much more than the other military ones on this planet. Maybe.

When I finally got out, the tears streamed down my face and I tumbled into the red Aston Martin. A concerned scan flew over my body and I started to laugh hysterically. The sweetness of the euphoria on my tongue tasted fabulous!

"N-nightbird? Are you alright? What happened?" the sorrow in his voice was somehow cute, but somehow even a bit annoying. How could he not see?

"T-they came! T-they t-took m-m-me! M-mission ac-complish-shed!" I sobbed and laughed at the same time, still grinning.

After another second of silence, his hologram appeared with a loud laugh and hugged me tightly. "Oh, Nightbird. You did it! You really did it! I'm so proud of my little girl!"

I wondered why the groundbridge didn't open to get us home, when Knock Out began his way down the road. I had no idea where he was heading towards.

When I finally had caught myself again, I asked Knock, "Hey, why aren't we going by bridge?"

"The bridge operator had a little... Breakdown. We'll have to wait until a new one takes his post."

I snickered. Knock's assistant often took out drones when he was in a bad mood... or when he just had nothing else to do.

We drove for over three hours until a Vehicon finally opened a bridge for us.

"What took you so long?" Knock Out snapped at him. The Vehicon quickly jolted and bowed.

"Don't be so mean to them. They didn't do anything wrong." I said while walking down one of the aisles and earned a snicker from Breakdown who suddenly popped up in front of me. "Yeah. Whatever."

"Breaky!" I squealed and jumped onto his leg, hugging it.

Breakdown knew I wasn't serious and just did that to annoy him. He hated that and I loved annoying him. Funniest thing ever. Knock Out giggled.

"You get off! That or I'll hammer you of." he threatened, sounding so serious that I might have believed him if he wouldn't have been grinning. His right hand transformed into his giant hammer and he acted like he was going to punch me away with it. Unfortunately, he didn't seem annoyed in anyway.

"Nightbird, playing with your pet again? I suggest you put a tighter leash on him. He can be quite annoying. Especially with his pathetic flirting attempts."

A big, black, purple and gold, spider-like Decepticon-femme stalked gracefully around the corner and gave me a sugar sweet smile.

Airachnid was the only Decepticon-femme I knew by now and damn she could kick butt! Exactly that was the reason why Breakdown had a crush on her. Well, that was my theory after all, but all the rumours they said about them both, just confirmed it.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

I never liked seeing Airachnid near Nightbird, but I had to confess, that I liked the way Airachnid treated her. As if they were almost equal... almost.

Since Nightbird had 'joined' us, the Decepticons had grown together. Were more like a family now.

And I could easily see who played which roll in this family theatre.

Of course there was me, her mech-creator. Then, there was Breakdown, the 'coolest uncle ever' as Nightbird kept explaining. Then there was the other uncle, who was just nice but a bit silent. Soundwave. Apparently, there was another member that was even closer to her than Breakdown. Ravage seemed to have not only taken place as her guardian but also as her brother. And of course there was the darker side of the family, which I didn't really wanted or even had expected to exist. Airachnid was naturally the 'creepiest aunt ever' and Starscream was the bad uncle.

Above all of them was Megatron, who, ironically, had taken part as the strict grandfather whom you want to show your abilities, because your only wish is to earn his respect and pride.

The rest were just friends. Like the drones whom she -out of some unrecognizable reason- kept calling Steve.

Blushing, she got off Breakdowns foot and bit her lip. Breakdown protectively stepped in front of her and lifted his hammer in a threatening manner. Airachnid wasn't impressed. Not even the slightest bit. She just ignored Breakdown as she tiptoed past him and picked up Nightbird.

"And, did you come any further, sweetie?"

It had surprised everyone here, that ironically Airachnid was kind to Nightbird. Probably because it was a very lonely live as a Decepticon-femme. Though Nightbird had much respect for Airachnid, they two got along very well.

Nightbird gave her a proud smile. "They'll probably even get me there tomorrow."

Airachnid wasn't the only one shocked. Every single Vehicon in earshot turned around and stared at her, just like Breakdown and Starscream did, who had just appeared, but the second in comment immediately retreated when he found out that he was spotted.

"How'd you get that far?" Breakdown questioned in awe. She shrugged.

"What kind of question is that? They are just human! It is easier to trick them, then to kick the aft of a Vehicon! They just can't stand against the Decepticon's intelligence." Airachnid interrupted and carefully placed her on the ground again. "What are you glaring at?" she then snapped at the Vehicons and disappeared mumbling "I really wonder what Megatron will say to that!".

Then it was Breakdowns turn to pick Nightbird up. He placed her on his shoulder while slowly walking down the aisle. "As much as I hate to admit it, spider-woman's right."

"Yeah? You also wondered where the Vehicons were glaring at?" she nudged his helmet with her fist.

"No, with you being more intelligent than all these other puny insects. I want to know what Megatron thinks about that."

"But Lord Megatron's not here." I interrupted putting much emphasis on the Lord. I had always said to Breakdown that I wanted him to talk about Megatron only with his title if Nightbird was in the room.

He gave me a confused look before realizing his mistake. Fortunately, Nightbird didn't.

"Then just place me on the ground. I'll see if I can find Ravage anywhere!"

With Ravage, she was like a child again. Laughed and hugged him and in the contrary to every other cybertronian -except for Soundwave of course-, he truly seemed to like her. Though he was just her guardian, they both came along very well. Probably too well...

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I rushed down the aisles, Knock Out and Breakdown following close behind. They never left me alone in the warship. Sometimes I think they were afraid that a Vehicon might step on me... But that was very unlikely. The Steves saw me now, and I believe I am the only reason why everyone on the warship watched where they step. After all, Lord Megatron still needed the location of the Autobot base and so far, I was the only one who was able to get it.

When I jogged around a door to enter the room of the communication's chief Soundwave, a memory from my first meeting with Ravage popped up in my head.

_Flashback:_

_For the second time in my life, Knock Out took me to the Decepticon Warship and I was still as nervous as the last time we went here. Driving through the groundbridge will always be my favourite activity._

_The sparks in different colors from light blue, to dark green were surrounding us and took in every inch of it, so that you couldn't decide where it started and ended. You could only make out the approximate form of the tunnel. The end was a bright white light, so bright; it hurt my eyes when I directly looked in._

_I let out a frustrated growl when we left it and Knock Out had to laugh. "That's not the normal reaction, you know? Normally, you wouldn't want to ever go through that again... but when did you ever show a normal reaction?" he said the last part more to himself, so I ignored it. Anyways, it was more interesting, to watch the Vehicons. Each of them looked so similar. Knock Out had told me that they were Drones. Creatures without an own personality. I -however- did not understand that. They could talk and walk, do things out of their own mind and make mistakes. They weren't just lifeless creatures, without any feelings... They deserved a name._

_I had to giggle when I looked up at the Drone. Because, suddenly the genius name popped up in my head. "Wazzup Steve?"_

_Both, the Drone and Knock Out gave me confused looks. My laughter confused them even more._

_Without minding, I made my way out and promptly ran into Breakdown._

_"Hey there lil' lady. Long-time no see. What are you doing here?"_

_I grinned up at him just as Knock Out walked around the corner. "First thing: I told you to never walk around the warship unless I'm in vision. Second: We are here, because she needs some assistance to fulfil her mission."_

_Breakdown rolled his optics at the tone of Knock Out's voice and took the lead, while I tried not to burst out laughing. That wouldn't look good within the Decepticon headquarters. A Decepticon wouldn't do that. But with Breakdown and Knock Out, I could be who I was. They understood it._

_Breakdown wouldn't betray Knock Out and so he wouldn't betray me either. And, I think that, by now, we are pretty good friends._

_I jogged after him and tried to not look too small. It doesn't look so good if you try to catch up with giant alien robots and have to catch your breath when you finally did. Fortunately, I had a good fitness level. Knock Out had made that sure. A Decepticon needs a good fitness level._

_When Breakdown suddenly stopped again, I saw this Decepticon who's also been at my audience with Megatron. I hadn't given him much attention there, because my mind was too busy with trying to figure something out I could say, without getting shot by Lord Megatron's giant Plasma canon._

_His face was more likely just a screen. His limbs were unbelievable thin and his armour looked probably just as graceful as Lord Megatron's. A Part of his chest armour seemed to be removable and his screen/optics/faceplate showed my image/reflection. Knock Out had told me about him. Soundwave, Lord Megatron's communication's chief._

_The grin on my face disappeared immediately and turned into a serious expression. Fortunately, he only looked at me for a second, then gave Knock Out a nod and continued on his way._

_I had never seen a Decepticon before, who only showed that less emotion. Namely, none._

_To Knock Out's and my amusement, Breakdown looked quite irritated. Probably because this Soundwave treated him like he treated me..._

_To catch up, I continued jogging after Breakdown who had already started moving again. But somehow, Breakdown managed to make me bump into his foot again._

_"Mmmmhh..." I made, while robbing my head. "Can't you watch where you step, big guy?"_

_Then, my eyes laid on the one making Breakdown stop again. "Wow"_

_It was some sort of cat, though it was made out of metal, had red eyes and deadly looking armour in a polished black. Its tail was studded with thorn like metal pieces and waved around threateningly._

_"Awww! Cute little kitty!" Breakdown and Knock Out both gave me panicked looks when I got closer to the cat._

_Knock Out had never allowed me to have a pet. He didn't like organic dogs or cats. I would have been pleased with just one, but no matter how hard I had tried, he had always said no._

_"Umm... Well, let me introduce you. That's Ravage and I do NOT think that coming too close to him would be wise. He doesn't like anyone on this ship except for Soundwave and Lord Megatron himself. He won't even let anyone touch him except from them!" Too late._

_And Breakdown wasn't the only one shocked. Knock Out had frozen in his position: leaning forward, servos stretched out in an attempt to pick me up before Ravage could hurt me. Unnecessary._

_I kneeled on the ground and fondled his right ear, what was why he had laid down and purred lightly, optics offlined._

_"That was... unexpected." I had to giggle at the expression on his face. When I stopped fondling Ravages ear, he stood up again and exchanged a look with Knock Out, who immediately grinned._

_"It appears that you are the third one on this vessel with access to Ravage's pack. Congratulations."_

_Flashback ends_

I had to smirk at the memory and got caught smirking when Ravage himself suddenly leaped out and caused me to fall on my back, while he landed softly on top of me.

"Get off of me! You know very well that that's not the best way to say hello!"

He snickered and hopped off me, letting his tail provocatively stroke my cheek. For one second, I thought of biting it, but that wouldn't be the best behavior either. And in a biting war, I think Ravage's teeth would win.

"Hey, Ravage! Guess what! I'll get a sightseeing tour through the Autobot base!" I announced cheerfully. He gave me a look which I could translate as a sarcastic 'Wow. I have never ever gotten that far.' So I just set up my puppy-dog face and replied, "It was a really hard job, so at least be a bit proud."

I knew how Ravage was like. He never took credit for anything. He was happy if he could be with his Master and would accomplish any mission, no matter how dangerous. But nonetheless, he gave me a small smile. After all, I wasn't in this business as long as he was.

And all together, we walked to the command centre, to tell our precious Lord and Master the news.

"Nightbird, report! How far have you come with your mission by now?"

As the last time he stood so that his back faced me, but I had to confess, it was an impressive back after all.

I bowed and thought for a second before answering. "I am nearly there for becoming an assistant inside the Autobot base, my lord." I shouldn't make his hopes too big. If they'd just take me to some military base for weapons or so, I'd be dead.

"Does that mean that you will not only locate the base of them, but also spy them as a double agent? That was more than I had expected from you. Keep on like this. You're on a good way to become a real Decepticon."

Uh-oh. He took it as more than it was. Breakdown and Ravage didn't seem to notice this. They both looked pleased. Only Knock Out showed some worries, but I'd handle that... somehow... probably... with Primus' help?

I was still a bit confused and also a bit disappointed. I had expected more than just these few sentences. Apparently, Knock Out saw this and shot me a comforting smile. Unfortunately, my knee began to hurt from the hard metal ground. 'Do not rise until Megatron tells you to.' I exhorted myself. But I had to say, this position wasn't comfortable after all.

"Knock Out. I suggest it would be best if you'd tell our little spy what she has to know about the Autobot members which are currently on earth. You are dismissed now."

All four of us got out and I still was confused. What did my Master exactly want from me, now? What should I spy on? Who should I spy on?

I shook my head and leaned over to Ravage. "I think this is going to be much more complicated, than I thought."

My reply was a simple nod. I would have to do something, but what exactly, was a mystery.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, here one of the main reasons, why I had to correct this. You know I had called one of the drones Steve. I believe many of you do know where I have that from. If you don't, watch this genious clip: watch?v=7rQOEpxCSyw<strong>

**So I do not own steve! Steve belongs to his rightful owner/s! I believe we all have to agree that calling a Drone Steve is on of the most genious ideas ever. Why didn't Bay come up with something like that?**

**That was basically everything, so please R&R**


	8. Bot base part1

Hello everyone!

I know I haven't updated for so horribly long, but I'll do my best to make it more often now.

This chapter was so long, that it split it up into two parts. You will get the next part in about a week and I'll try to give you one chapter per week for now, but I do not promise anything!

This one has many flashbacks in it and is probably a bit confusing...

I do not own anything! Except for my own characters of course ;)

I wish you all fun with reading it. :)

* * *

><p><span>'Bot base part 1<span>

_"RUN!" The single scream tortured my mind. Everything was black. I was consumed by darkness, and there was a putrid smell in the air. What smelled like this? I couldn't tell. I started to panic. Where should I run? Why should I run? Who was the woman that had screamed? Silence. The screams subsided. The begging subsided. I hid. But why I did it wasn't even clear to me. Probably because of the woman. Her voice has had this inspire confidence tone. I knew her, but I couldn't remember who she was or how she looked like. Footsteps. Loud, heavy footsteps. A single voice, talking... was it talking to me? My hiding place getting destroyed, revealing me under it. A robot above me. Red. Looking shocked. He struggled with himself. He came closer, picked me up, and then; darkness._

I shot up, sweat clinging to my body. I glanced at the clock and sighed when I saw that it was 3:30 in the morning. "Dammit!" I murmured.

Today was my big day. I would go to the Autobot base and meet Optimus Prime and all the other murderers. Unarmed. Without any safety measures. Then why didn't I dream something like Optimus Prime tearing me apart? Or _the_ Ratchet, Cybertron's best medic, torturing me to death. Or Iron... Iron... what was his name again? I would have to ask Knock Out when he'd come and pick me up.

Yesterday, he'd shown me everything I had to know. And with everything, I mean everything.

_Flashback_

_I sat on his shoulder, my back leaned against one of the wheels attached to his back. Ravage recharged somewhere in a corner of the room, tail flicking back and forth. Breakdown leaned against the wall, furthest away from __Ravage, watching him suspiciously. Soundwave and Knock Out both eagerly pressed the buttons on the giant keyboard of the main computer. Normally, Soundwave would be busy with decoding the Iacon database, but now he helped Knock Out with giving me the information I needed about the Autobots._

_"Okay. Let's start with the least dangerous one." Knock Out pressed one key and the first scan of an Autobot appeared on the screen. "Bumblebee.", he commented. "The scout. Hold your cover up and you two will be best friends. At least he'll let you think that. He's the guardian of Samuel James Witwicky. He spied on Lord Megatron back in Tygerpax and refused to give him the coordinates of the Allspark. Lord Megatron didn't kill him, but crushed his voice box, so that he won't be able to speak ever again." I nodded, though I had no idea who Samuel James Witwicky was, but I had the strange feeling I would find out soon enough. And I didn't feel sorry for the young scout. He was obviously young for a Transformer. His blue optics glared at me from above a battlemask. I frowned. Battlemasks were rare on Cybertron and I had to confess, that I had never seen a normal scout wearing one. He must have come out of a pretty wealthy family._

_Soundwave must have noticed my confusion about it and his faceplates revealed some sort of a virtual formula:_

Designation: Bumblebee

Faction: Autobot

Dignity: Soldier

Group: Scout

Time of creation: early war

Past: unknown

Creators: unknown

Rating: 7

Weapons: three times upgraded plasma blasts: 1.3 shots per nano click

Remark: Fastest Autobot

_Now I got even more confused. The least dangerous one of the Autobots had a rating of seven? A rating of seven meant dangerous. _Very_ dangerous. This time, Knock Out noticed my confusion. "The Autobot team on earth insists on the best Autobots there are. The Autobot leader, his first lieutenant, his bodyguard aka his weapon expert, Cybertron's best medic and the best scout." _

_"W-w-wait. Cybertron's best medic? Ratchet?!" I had read much about him in our database, but never, that he was currently on earth. The one medic, that was thousands of times better than Knock Out and Breakdown together and probably even one of the best scientists. I knew, Lord Megatron had tried to win him for the Decepticon faction, but he abdicated, because he was a good friend of the current Autobot leader Optimus Prime, who is also Lord Megatron's brother._

_A slow nod from Soundwave._

_"We don't have a scan of him. But I think you know enough about him to know that..."_

_I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Do never cross a medic's way. They're torture specialists. I know." Unexpectedly, Breakdown started to laugh. So hard, that he nearly spilled the energon he was just drinking a few seconds before. "Seriously? You two have rules? Of course you do. Nobody wants the little Nightbird to get harmed, does he?" A hiss from Ravage followed by loud rumble and a cussing Breakdown. I had to grin, and I could swear that Soundwave was doing the same... well, under his faceplates. _

_Knock Out shook his head and went on. "Alright then. Breakdown, stop annoying Ravage! Nightbird, this", he typed something into the computer and a scan appeared, "is the Autobots weapon specialist, Ironhide. If you see him when your cover's blown, run away. There's no chance you'd survive that." _

_My jaw fell down. Yep, that was a weapon specialist. The two plasma canons, each on one arm, must have been upgrade about a thousand times. Wouldn't surprise me if these things alone could blow up the Decepticon base. A hysterical laugh escaped my throat and I nearly started crying. The Autobot must have armour from three times the size of Knock Out. He obviously wasn't interested in looking good, but he didn't need to. Why would he want to give his victims a last nice view? I bet in most cases he'd be the last thing you see when you're not on his side. If not even in all cases. _

_"O-o-okay?" I stuttered, to tell them they could go on, but it sounded more like a question._

_I understood the message. Don't get in the way of Ratchet and Ironhide, or you're dead. _

_The next one was one I knew. Lieutenant Jazz; a small silver Autobot with a big ego you should never underestimate. Whole troops of Decepticons died because they underestimated one small Autobot. It didn't surprise me, that he had the rating of nine, just as the weapon specialist Ironhide. I shivered. Good. The only one I was allowed to look in the optics now was the scout, Bumblebee. _

_"And last, but not least, Optimus Prime." I backed away and nearly fell off Knock's shoulder, if the wheel hadn't been, at the sight of a highly armed, deathly looking robot with a fury look in the optics and a strong battlemask. His right hand was replaced by an obviously hot blade and his left hand by a plasma canon, which was probably impossible to upgrade more._

_"It wouldn't make sense to tell you something about his weapons. His rating is ten and above. If you get into his way, you're dead. But only if you're cover's blown up. So, I don't think, you'll have to fear him. He won't kill any humans in public, so that his cover up don't cease." I nodded. Jaw still down. I couldn't get my eyes of his optics. He looked way deadlier than Lord Megatron, but I had never seen him in battle mode either, so..._

_Then, Breakdown took over, laughing. "The only thing you should be careful with is that you don't get under his feet."_

_I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'm small, got it."_

_Another growl from Ravage at Breakdown._

_"Nightbird. I don't intend in letting you go there without a chance to defend yourself. I worked on a few weapons in the last months. They're from a small size, so that you can use them too..."_

_Knock rummaged in his subspace and got out something that looked oddly familiar to a syringe, followed by a mini version of a plasma canon._

_"Knock Out, I don't think they'll let me get into the base, without checking me for weapons..." _

_Ravage growled approvingly._

_"You don't expect me to let you go behind enemy lines unarmed, do you?"_

_I shrugged. "Sorry daddy, but we have no other option." _

_Knock Out obviously didn't like that statement, but he knew it was true, so I turned to the screen again._

_I had to confess, standing in front of this killer machine -and he literally was one- without any weapons and a chance to survive if I'd make a single mistake, now was even more frightening than standing in front of Lord Megatron and having his weapon aimed on you._

I am so dead!

_"Oh, and one last thing Nightbird." I turned to him. Soundwave and Ravage had disappeared. "There are two possibilities." He swallowed. "Either you survive this, and can get Lord Megatron the coordinates, or you don't." Translation: If you don't get the coordinates, Lord Megatron will kill you, if the Autobots haven't already done that. "But don't worry, you'll make it."_

_He seemed more to try to reassure himself than me._

_"But... what happens if I fail?" I whispered, eyes on the ground. Afraid of the answer._

_"Then you'll still be my little sparkling."_

_Flashback ends_

I turned around again. Probably, if I was lucky, I could get another hour of sleep.

_**Knockout's POV**_

I wandered around the warship restless. I could swear I forgot something! The tools in the medical bay are all shut off, Nightbird is at home, Soundwave didn't need anything more from me; Megatron didn't want to see me again...

With a sigh, I decided it would be senseless to search any further. I would remember it soon enough, if I even had forgot something. Still exhausted from the passed day, I returned to my quarters. Three empty energon cubes and a half full one, laid around the berth. On the table next to the door, was the screen with the designs for a new weapon. It shoots bullets filled with poison, that let's any Cybertronian -no matter how rustproof it's armour is- rust and fall to dust within seconds. Of course I didn't do that all by myself. The former Autobot leader had been armed with the prototype, but this was a better version. And on the contrary to those times, we had the antidote.

It was the weapon, I had planned to give to Nightbird, so that she wouldn't be defenceless when she was inside the Autobot base. The antidote was in a syringe like metal construction. It wasn't much, but it was made only for emergencies anyway. If Nightbird hit an Autobot with the blast, she wouldn't have any need of it. But she wouldn't even get the chance to, because it was here with me, instead of there with her.

In less than three hours, Nightbird would be on her way to the Autobot base. I shivered. Don't think about what could go wrong, Knock Out! Her cover could get blown up, or she could get a panic attack in front of Optimus Prime and they sense that something's wrong with her, or... No! Nothing will happen. I took a deep breath, just as I did on her first school day.

_Flashback_

_"I don't want to go, daddy."_

_I patted her head, trying to reassure her, though I felt exactly the same way. Not only because there were so many humans, but also because my little Nightbird was growing up so fast._

_It felt like yesterday, when I had found her..._

_She took my hand and pressed herself against my holograms leg. At first I had tried to subdue her red, curly hair, but then, I simply held it back with a headband, which was nearly invisible._

_Yep, another crisis the best creator in the world overcame generously._

_"Come sweetspark. Hanna and... the others are waiting." I tried pathetically to cheer her up. Why did I always forget their names? Well, human names were pretty weird, after all._

_She stretched her hands in the air, obviously wanting to get carried._

_"No Birdie, you're a big girl now. You can walk on your own."_

_When she pouted in her spark rending way and a big tear rolled down her cheek, I gave up._

_I knew, she could cry whenever she wanted and did this just to make me do what she wanted, but I swear, not even Unicron would be able to stand this look._

_Carrying her on my shoulders, I walked inside the building. It was pretty small for a school, but at least it was... colourful._

_I tried not to turn up my nose, but the inside of the building hurt my eyes. Yellow, green, blue, purple and pink._

_"Marcus, Nightbird, there you two are. We already searched you."_

_I gave Hannah an excusing smile. "We two just wanted to look around a bit."_

_Nightbird hid her face behind my neck and her fingers grabbed my hair as if she needed something to hold on to._

_I sighed. She is really a father's child._

_"Look Nightbird. Don't you want to meet the other kids?"_

_I pointed to a group of children that played near the exit._

_Without even looking at them, she shook her head and her grasp on my hair got tighter._

_"Okay, that's it, sweetspark."_

_I sat her down, ignoring her whining and told her to go to the other children._

_She looked up at me as if I had betrayed her and trotted to the group like an abandoned dog. But only five minutes later, she was back at my side, taking my hand._

_I looked down, to see her crying, and I just wanted to ask her what has happened, when the speech started._

_Normally, people were silent when a speech was held, but it was totally different with this speech._

_Children cried. Creators talked to them and to each other at the same time. No one actually listened._

_I kneeled down to Nightbird and asked her what was wrong._

_She shook her head and hid herself at my chest. I hugged her and picked her up again, caressing her hair, until the speech was over and the children got called to their class teachers._

_I was relieved, when I saw her teacher: A young man -probably in the mid-twenties- with short brown hair and a smile pretty similar to mine. On the first look, you could tell he was good with children._

_He introduced himself as Alex Thomson, 27 years old, teacher for German and French, though German would be taught later._

_It was obvious that Nightbird liked him from the first second on. She grinned over the whole face, while he laid a hand on her shoulder and greeted her._

_Hanna leaned over to me, "You know, you two are pretty much alike. You both loved her from the first second on."_

_While Nightbird and the other children were in their classroom with their classmates and their class teacher, the parents talked about their children, and the classrooms and the class teachers._

_I mostly acted like I was listening, nodded and said something like, "Yes, I totally agree" or "Aha" or sometimes even full sentences, while I looked around the persons. My optics stopped at the sight of a woman. I could swear I knew her. Brown hair, tall and when she noticed me, this bright shining smile gave me the rest. Of course, the women from the supermarket! Megan. _

_I never forget an interesting person!_

_She excused herself by her conversation partners and hurried over to me. "Marcus? Is that you?" she asked with this soothing voice. "Megan! Who knew we would meet again here?"_

_Now I regretted not calling her back. But she apparently didn't mind._

_"Nightbird's getting into school today?" I nodded._

_"I didn't see her on the platform. Which teacher does she have?"_

_"Alex Thomson." I answered. "Why are you here? Do you have a child that gets into school today, too?" She shook her head. "No, I don't have any children. I'm just the aunt of one. Emily, she's in Nightbird's class."_

_"I see."_

_She now looked a bit sad. "You didn't want to call me back, did you?"_

_"I don't want to make this harder for Nightbird than it already is. I mean everything to her and getting another person in our relationship would be... cruel." I didn't know what I was saying, but somehow, let's just say, for a human, I liked her way too much to hurt her in any way. Right now, I am pretty sure I would be much happier when she was Nightbird's foster mother, not Hannah._

_"How about we be friends?" I surprised myself with the words that came out of my mouth._

_I must like this human a lot. "I buy you a coffee when this is over. Nightbird will be driven home by Hannah and Ron anyway."_

_She raised an eyebrow. Uh-oh, she didn't know about Hannah and Ron yet._

_Then, she smiled again. "With pleasure."_

_Flashback ends_

Yes, Megan was probably the only human I liked to have in my presence. Nightbird didn't count as human, she was too much of a Decepticon... or better of a Transformer. Megan sometimes called me and we at least met once a month. I sighed. When this was over, I somehow thought that I wouldn't be able to meet her anymore.

Then, it exploded in my mind like a wrecker grenade.

For Primus sake! How is Nightbird going to get to the meeting point? I have to find out the coordinates! That was what I had forgotten!

I raced out of my quarters and straight to the bridge operator. The drone that had bridge duty stared at me with this dumb expression they all had on their faces. I pushed him aside and searched the database. I hadn't noted the coordinates, so I'd have to get through each and every entry to see which of them they were. You would mean, hey, it was just yesterday, so many coordinates couldn't have been typed in since then and anyways, but then, you are totally wrong. The last hour has about thirty different entries from drones scouting for energon all over the planet. It would take me hours to find them!

And it would have, if Soundwave hadn't stepped in, the second I started. A quick scan through the entries and after less than five seconds, the coordinates were on the screen. "Thank you Soundwave. Again." I answered while saving them for the groundbridge operator. He just nodded and I could swear he smiled.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I was ready. My make-up was perfect as well as my wig. Thanks to Knock Out, I wore a black suit from Chanel with fitting High Heels from Jimmy Choo. My hair was pinned up, or better, my wig. As a lucky charm, I wore the sunglasses from Chloe I once saw in a store window. As long as Knock Out had paid everything, I felt pretty good.

_Flashback_

_"Look Hannah!"_

_I nearly pressed my nose against the glass when I saw them._

_Dark glass, white with light brown stripes. I had fallen in love!_

_"WHAT?! Nightbird! Have you seen the price? I won't give so much money for simple sunglasses. You get the same in every supermarket!"_

_'No' I thought. 'You don't.'_

_But then I looked at the price. They _were_ expensive. Expensive and from Chloe!_

_"But I don't..." I started and got interrupted by Hannah mercilessly. "Yes, you don't!"_

_For the rest of the day, I didn't talk a single word with her._

_Back home, Knock Out took me on one of our evening drives._

_"... It was the most beautiful sunglasses I have ever seen! And the summer comes; you know how bad the sun can be. She just said 'no'! Without really looking at the sunglasses. She only looked at the price."_

_"Awwww, sweetspark. Don't be sad. Look at her. I bet she just won't buy you them, because they wouldn't suit her as well as they would suit you."_

_A typical Knock Out answer. I cuddled into the warm cushion of the seat and closed my eyes._

_"You understand me."_

_The next day after school, I walked up the stairs and into my room._

_School nearly killed me! It was horrible!_

_I threw myself onto the bed and let something fly through the air._

_"What?" I shrieked when I saw what it was._

_The sunglasses. The one's I had seen in the window. I took them turned them around and grinned over the whole face._

_Okay, I'm probably a bit fastidious, but with a father like Knock Out, life's pretty easy._

_I stood up and looked outside the window, just to see his hologram standing next to his real form and waving up to me. I laughed, grabbed my college block and wrote in big letters:_

_Thank You!_

_Knock Out took down his imaginary hat and bowed. Then he grinned up to me again, his hologram disappeared and the red Aston Martin drove along the road._

_Now it was official, there was no better creator on this or any other planet!_

_Flashback ends_

I tiptoed outside. A letter with an explanation, saying that I had gone with Marcus laid on the kitchen table.

I slipped myself into the red car and we drove away in silence.

After less than one minute, my handy started beeping. I immediately knew that this had something to do with my job, because the only person who had this number was Charlotte Mearing. I straightened and answered the call with a firm: "Hello?"

"Mrs. Rye?" A woman, much older than me, asked.

"On the phone."

"My name is Lauretta Farrell. I am the secretary of Charlotte Mearing and am calling you because you might need some tips for your first day at work." she said with a grandmotherly tone in her voice. What could I lose?

"And what tips would you have for me?" I responded interested.

"At first, know that I do this only because I don't want to search another young assistant if you'd be fired. I really have better things to do than search in the entire U.S. for someone qualified! Charlotte Mearing is a very strict person, so better please her with your work. She does much paperwork, so I hope you know how to copy and get coffee. When you enter the Autobot base, she will take off her shoes. In the brown leather bag, she has her sneakers, next to the papers she always needs. Lay them down in front of her and take the high heels. No matter what you see in there, always be serious and if she asks you for your meaning, always be on her side and answer without a word. Say as little as possible and do not annoy her. Do never call her ma'am and always stay behind her. If anybody tells you to do something, wait for Charlotte's response to that. If she says you should do it, do it. If she says no, than you don't, understand?"

"Yes, Mrs. Ferrall, I do understand. Thank you very much. I will do my best to not disappoint you."

"I really hope so, Lara. Otherwise, you'll have a hard life in front of you." Oh if she knew.

"Impress them. I hope you'll make it."

And then she hung up. "That was weird." I whispered, but shrugged it off. At least it would help me with getting my job done.

Neither Knock Out nor I knew a word to say; when we were near the place we would get picked up. But we both knew that this was probably our last chance to talk.

The groundbridge opened and for one second I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of it. Then, we arrived on the parking lot and Knock Out shut down his engine.

"So..." he started. Then, without letting him say a word I whispered "I love you." and got out. It was too hard for me. I didn't like goodbyes at all. Just like changes.

I didn't turn around, not even when the heavy door closed behind me. Now I knew that this was a game. Everything or nothing.

Charlotte Mearing already awaited me. Both of us were silent until we entered the car.

"Good. Mrs. Rye, I have to inform you about something you will see today."

I nodded. Now, I would know whether I had a chance to survive, or not.

"Some years ago, five meteors crashed in the United States. Shortly after, a boy told the police that his car got stolen, but returned on its own."

BINGO!

"It turned out, that the meteors weren't meteors but stasis pods."

Play the ignorant.

"Are we talking about some sort of UFO's?"

She nodded, as if it was self-evident. Internally, I was dancing.

"Do you want to tell me that there were still aliens in these... stasis pods?"

"Indeed. Autonomic robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also called Autobots. They build an ally with us humans to defend earth from the Decepticons."

Ha! Good luck with that!

"You remember the terror attacks a few years ago? Those were cover ups, all of them."

I nodded.

"Currently, we have eight members of the Autobot team on earth."

_EIGHT?! I thought they were just five?_

"Today, you will only meet four of them."

WHO?! I can't ask her who! I am unprepared! I will die!

"The most important one of them is their leader, Optimus Prime."

Damn damn daaaaaaaaamn! From all of them, I get the worst. Why not Bumblebee? Why for Primus sake not Bumblebee?!

"Can you follow me or is this job too big for you?"

"I-I think I can follow."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Except for the Decepticon part.", I confessed.

She nodded.

"They are the enemies of the Autobots, fought a war against them and now want to take over the earth after Cybertron was plunged into darkness."

Nothing new to me.

"Remember. This is all top secret. Tell anyone anything about it and I will personally hunt you down!" And from the serious tone she used, I totally believed her.

Suddenly, the car went slower and I looked through the windows. Just in time to see the name of the building. The department of health and human services.

_I AM ALIVE!_

* * *

><p>Okay, that was it. I know that the last flashback was probably the worst one I ever made, but I thought I'd put it in.<p>

Hope you guys liked it. Every review is appreciated.


	9. Bot base part 2

I'm back! I'm sorry it took so much longer than I said... But therefor I made it a bit longer XD

hope you guys enjoy it and have you seen the New TFP episode? Knock Out's gonna make Silas suffer for what he did to Breakdown!

* * *

><p><strong>'bot base part 2<strong>

_**Knock Out's POV**_

"No. No, no, no, no, NO!"

I walked circles around my desk in the medbay. Breakdown leaned at the wall next to the door and was slightly amused.

"This is NOT funny!" I shouted at him. He didn't even wince. Was he really enjoying this?

Breakdown abruptly stopped laughing when my saw blade nearly met his throat and my other hand pinned his head to the wall.

"Do you think it is funny that Nightbird is in the Autobot base, outnumbered, unarmed and helpless? Do you think it is funny that there exists a big chance she will not come back? Is that what you call funny?" I hissed and the saw blade began to rotate dangerously close to his main energon line.

My assistant swallowed under my grasp and brought out a silent "No." I let go of him and kicked him to the other side of the room.

"If you don't have anything important to say that would help me, please leave." I whispered in a threatening tone and let my saw blade rotate even faster. For one second, he seemed to weigh up his chances against me, then shrugged and went outside, probably to club some drones until they join the Well.

I fell to my knees and hid my face in my hands. Every possible death of my sparkling came through my mind. Every click another one, filled with blood and torture and her screams. Those horrible screams.

_'She is no sparkling anymore, Knock Out. She's grown up.'_, a part of my processor reminded me silently, but the truth was, she'd always be a sparkling to me. Again, the picture of the little girl on the battlefield came through my mind. So helpless and afraid. What would I do now if I hadn't rescued her? If I had killed her? If I had killed my sparkling. _'But she isn't your sparkling, Knock Out.'_, this cruel voice said. I wanted to beat it, cut it, tear it apart, do everything to make it go silent. To kill it.

"SHE IS MINE!" I screamed out loud, and finally, the voice fell silent.

How much would I have given for the ability to cry? Anytime else, nothing, but right now? My spark wanted to explode and my voice would certainly sound rough if I'd speak. If I was a human, I would be sobbing right now. If I was human, I would be able to be the father Nightbird earned. If I was human, I could have pervaded the mission Megatron had commissioned Nightbird to. If I was human, I wouldn't have to be afraid of Nightbird becoming a Decepticon.

I didn't hear him coming, but no one ever did anyway. I felt his presence as he stood in the door frame.

So I looked up at him, and could swear I saw a mirror. He felt the same feelings I felt, but what made him different from me was that he was able to cry. A single energon tear rolled down his nose and his tail was clamped between his legs as he slowly toddled over to me and laid down to my feet.

Ravage was her brother and in some sort of way, my child. Soundwave wasn't here, but he left Ravage back without Megatron's knowledge. He knew that Ravage wasn't capable of his work, when his sister was behind enemy lines and he would never risk Ravage's life.

The door closed again, and we were alone. He had decided to lie close to me, but didn't touch me. His head rested on his front pedes and the red-glowing eyes didn't look dangerous at all, when another tear left them.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

The car drove slowly. I swear; I would be faster when I'd walk. My heart beat so fast, it felt like it would break my ribs if it got any faster. My hands were cold and wet. I wiped them dry at my pants.

A gate opened in front of us and four armed humans in uniforms stood behind it. The driver let the window down and identified us. When we drove through, the gate closed behind us and I felt like a trapped rat. Except for the gate, there were about three different barbed wire fences delimiting the plot. No way to come out of here alive if you had to flee. We had to get out shortly before the next gate and Charlotte Mearing showed me that I should go through a heavy metal door, which only let one person in or out, at a time. A soldier opened it for me and gave me a friendly smile. I returned it and let Charlotte Mearing go through first.

Behind the door, metal detectors like the ones you see on airports awaited us. I haven't seen them very often before. Two or three times in my life. Ron doesn't like flying, he fears it. One of the reasons why Knockout doesn't take him as an adult. He has no respect for Ron, not even the slightest bit.

Charlotte Mearing walked through the thing and past the soldiers without a word. One could clearly see that she didn't like them. It reminded me of how Lord Megatron treated the drones and the smile on my face disappeared. One of the men showed me that I should follow Charlotte Mearing, who now stood at the other side and watched me curiously. No doubt she had still let the possibility alive that I was a spy in the game. I nodded, gave him my bag and walked through, praying that the thing wouldn't beep. My sunglasses, which I had in my pocket, wouldn't get the thing to beep, would they? But fortunately, nothing beeped and my bag got returned to me with a kind smile. Somehow, I started to like the humans here. At least they were nice to me. They must know that I get to see the Autobots for the first time.

"Here." Charlotte Mearing gave me three briefcases. One was more like a bag out of green leather.

"That's the material we'll need in there. Optimus already awaits us."

I swallowed and tried to still look good and competent and to not let one of the four bags fall, I was carrying. Wasn't she afraid of calling the Autobot leader without his title? Didn't the humans get punished for something as disrespectful as that?

"Mrs. Mearing."

We had just walked through the next door into a small aisle, when another higher ranked soldier came up to us. He gave me a kind look and offered to take the bags. I shook my head, it was my job.

He was cute. Blonde hair, handsome face and one hell of a body. "William Lennox, ma'am.", he said to me and made the intimation of a bow. I returned a smile and answered, "Lara Rye. Nice to meet you William Lennox."

"Lennox is enough." He gave the women next to me no attention, what obviously annoyed her.

"Okay, Lennox." I answered shyly, painfully aware of how my cheeks had heated up. Damn, where was all the self-confidence Knock Out had given me? Oh, wait, wasn't I supposed to speak as little as possible. Slag!

Another man joined our group.

"Mrs. Mearing, Optimus is ..." Lennox started, but got interrupted by an annoyed Charlotte Mearing.

"Senator, I suggest you remember that when the NSA wants funding, they call me. When the CIA's gonna take out a target, they ask first for my permission. And when the president wants to know, which member of conquest have politically vulnerable in terms of oh let's say undiscovered criminal conduct, I'm the number he dials." **(I am not really sure if I wrote that down right. Write in the Reviews if I didn't)**

She got out of her high heels and I quickly got her sneakers out and put them right in front of her. While she put them on, I took the high heels and let them disappear in the bag from where I had gotten the sneakers.

Then she turned to Lennox. "CIA's up my ass about the mystery rate in the middle east, so it's time to come clean. Was your unit involved?"

He was caught off guard by her quick speech and obviously had his problems with thinking and walking without accidentally hitting someone at the same time. "Hmm... I'm not sure ma'am...", but she interrupted him again.

"As director of national intelligence, I'm a really big fan of intelligent answers."

Now I felt compassion for him. He was trying so desperately to answer without another mistake that I 'accidentally' let one of the bags fall down, to get him another few seconds. I bend down and picked them up, but not fast enough for her.

"What are you waiting for, Lara?"

She didn't even ask me whether it was okay, if she called me Lara instead of Ms. Rye. If the whole thing wasn't that important, I would have answered "Nothing, Charlotte." Instead I just nodded.

"I-I can't really tell you definitely. These Autobots are like teenage kids. They just sneak out of the house every once..." he said while he blinked with his unbelievable long eyelashes and sounded like a kind father excusing his children with the argument: "They're children, one day they'll learn it."

"Colonel Lennox, are you a commander or are you not?"

He blinked twice, obviously surprised by her asking him such a question.

"Yes ma'am, I am a..."

"Stop with the ma'am. Enough with the ma'am. Do I look like a ma'am?" She looked at me and I reminded myself to stay on her side, so I shook my head gravely. Lennox stared at me as if he was asking for help and stuttered, "No ma'am... yes ma'am. Yes."

Suddenly, she went into a different direction and I followed her, down the next aisle. But not without giving Lennox a last, pitiful gaze and getting back a comforting smile.

I liked him and that was bad. Because I somehow knew, that the chances for everyone here to survive were rather small if I made it out of here alive.

Right, left, another door, straight down again, once more right, stairs up, left, through the next door along an aisle which ended with another single door. This door was plain and made of some light wood. Something about it told me, that this wasn't the way to the Autobots, but the possibility, that it was simply another door, was pretty small.

Charlotte Mearing opened it and held it open so that I could get in. It was stupid, but my legs didn't want to move. Her face went cold and her gaze made me feel small, so small I never felt before, not even in front of Lord Megatron. Self-consciousness. Knock Out wouldn't like to see me like this.

The dragon in front of you is simply a human. An unimportant vermin, Nightbird. A simple crack and her neck is broken, a simple shot and her heart stops beating. She'd have no chance against you.

I gave her a sugar sweet smile and took the bags through the door.

It turned out, that I had been right. Behind the wooden door, was a single desk and a single chair, plain walls without a window, only one lamp hung down from the ceiling, though the room wasn't small. Not at all. I counted twenty-three men in here and enough space for other ten. Eighteen of the men were soldiers, only one of them smiled at me, but I liked him immediately. He reminded me of Lennox, though he absolutely didn't look like him, but was handsome in his one way. Three others had a uniform, I couldn't identify. One person looked like Charlotte Mearing. Black, firm suit, serious face, in the late fortieth probably, though his hair was already grey and if I hadn't known how much stress this man must have, I would have thought he was over fifty.

And the last one was still a boy. Not much older than twenty, but sleepless nights had marked his face and dark rings were under his green-brown eyes. His once probably healthy, chocolate brown hair had lost some of its color and was now dull. He had a thin body, muscular for normal humans, but nothing in comparison to the soldiers in here. Simply from his gaze, you could tell that he must have big problems. They looked exhausted and it was as if he was staring into a completely different time. A time, where everything was better and one could obviously see that he wanted back into that time.

On the desk next to him, sat someone I knew. Not personally of course, but Airachnid had told me about him. Wheelie. The small Autobot insignia on his shoulder over the blue armor which was pathetic in comparison to the true Decepticon's armor. A simple scrap drone had betrayed the Decepticons and joined the Autobots. No one had known what had happened to him. I had once found some data about him and had asked Airachnid, because I had never seen him aboard the ship. She had just told me that he had disappeared and everyone had thought the Autobots had terminated him. But that wasn't true. If it would have happened that way, he would at least have died in honor! Now, he was a rusty traitor, ready for the scrapheap! Not even bigger than my seine. Megatron would simply step on him!

I just realized now, that my hands had clenched into fists and I had frozen within my movement. Suddenly, everything went silent and every eye laid on me, while I just stared at Wheelie.

_Lord Unicron will let you burn in the Well after Megatron killed you, traitor!,_ I thought with fury.

To my luck, my expression got interpreted different. "Never seen an Autobot, have ya?" the traitor asked with an annoyingly rude tone in his voice. He didn't deserve getting killed by Lord Megatron. I would have to do it by myself. And I looked forward to it.

"Shut up!" said the boy next to him.

"Sammy, I thought ya were on ma' side?" Aha. Sammy was a nickname for Samuel, wasn't it? So that was the boy who discovered the Autobots on earth.

He came up to me, finally looking me in the eyes, and an exhausted smile appeared on his face. "Just ignore him. He'll probably stop sometime in the future. Hi, I'm Sam." I set the bags on the floor and took his hand. "Lara."

"So you're the new assistant of Mrs. Mearing? Wow. Good luck. I hope you're tough."

The small robot behind him cheered, most of the soldiers gave me impressed looks and the dragon stared at Sam with such a hate filled gaze, that I was impressed he didn't step back.

With one hand, he wiped the traitor of the desk cocked his head to the right side and gave her a bright smile, which showed how young he actually was. Older than me, but not much. "Bags on the desk!" the dragon ordered, eyes still on Sam and I quickly did as she said.

She sat down on the single chair behind the single desk and opened the green bag.

"All of you are here, because you are some of the very few people in the world that know about the mission from the dark side of the moon." Everyone but me nodded and because I didn't want to stand in her way, I went next to the nice soldier who somehow reminded me of William Lennox, so that I stood right behind her.

"These three men" she made a movement with her hand to the three men in the odd uniforms, and I was pretty sure that she explained this only for me, "Are the last surviving persons who originally had something to do with the mission. About 42 years ago, they found a space shuttle on the dark side which once had passengers on board who were marked with the Autobot insignia."

I looked around and saw, that none of the persons here was really listening to her, except for the ones that was talked about. Most of the others gave me curious looks or stared somewhere on the floor. The only one, who seemed to be as uninformed as I, was Sam.

"For the following, I can tell that what was on board the ship was..."

I swear, I really tried to hear what she was saying, I tried it hard okay? But the soldier next to me whispered directly into my ear and the five seconds I didn't understand a bit, were the most important ones.

"Don't mind what she's saying. You won't have much to do with that anyway, except for getting tickets for the best seats in the fights between Prime and Mearing. Believe me; everyone here would like to switch with you for seeing that. But on the other side, I'm sorry that you have this job. Believe me; you'll be sorry by yourself too. In at least three hours."

I gave him a polite smile, but quickly looked back to Charlotte Mearing, who was nearly over with her explanation. Jinxed it! I needed that information! ...probably.

"This information is top secret. Should any of it get into the wrong hands, in the worst case, Decepticon hands, we are all dead!" Wow. Did she want to tease me? I had enough problems over here, okay?!

"Oh, and by the way, I'm Robert Epps, but everyone here just calls me Epps."

The other nice soldier stretched his hand into my direction and I shook it. Probably taking it a bit too long, but I needed something to hold on. This had just been my first failure and that on my first day!

"Lara.", I whispered back.

"Lara!" Charlotte Mearing shouted.

"Get the bags and follow me. What are you staring at?"

Obviously, the last part was for Epps. Quickly, I grabbed the bags and got behind her. Everyone in the room gave me a compassionate look. Mostly Sam and Epps. Wheelie, who was just climbing back onto the desk, didn't even notice that we were going. Or he simply didn't mind.

Traitor, I thought. You will notice me when I rip your tiny spark out of its chamber!

This was probably the first time of my life that I thought as bloody like this. But seeing someone, who betrayed the great Lord Megatron and turned his back on his comrades out of simple fear, wasn't worth living.

The door closed behind us and again the dragon led me through a labyrinth of stairs, aisles and doors.

In front of a smaller metal door on the third floor -if I had counted right- she stopped and turned around to me.

"You will not look him in the eyes, you will not stare at them, scream, run away or do anything stupid like that and you will, for christ's sake, shut your mouth!" I could simply nod. She wasn't reassuring in any way, but after all it had been me who had said that I was "capable of a job such as this one".

The doors opened automatically when she stepped forward. I quickly followed, trying to hide my fear by looking curious. Everyone would have probably done that, when he was about to meet them for the first time... but those didn't knew their history... and hadn't seen their weapons and their ratings and their cold blue optics...

Suddenly, I wanted to get a grasp on Charlotte Mearing's arm, wanted her to hold my hand to at least feel a bit safe. Man, what would I give to have Ravage at my side now.

The big room we entered actually was no room. It was more like a giant warehouse, probably six to seven floors high and full of soldiers. On the first look, I couldn't see any potential Autobot in here. Humans didn't count.

We walked down metal stairs until we stood on the real ground. I didn't like that at all, because this would make the Autobots look so much bigger! And Breakdown was right. I would have to be careful that they didn't step on me. But the more afraid I was, the happier I felt, when Lennox suddenly appeared in front of us again.

"Hello.", he greeted me, and only me. Charlotte Mearing was unimportant to him. I smiled and followed her around a group of soldiers. Lennox jogged after us.

"Hey listen Mrs. Mearing, I don't really think it'd be a good idea to talk to Optimus Prime now..."

More information on Charlotte Mearing:

She doesn't like it, when you use terms like "Hey", "Hi" and probably "Wazzup!" Philistine!

"This gun is my perfect invention, Ironhide."

I jerked away at the sudden sound of a loud and yet somehow insane voice.

Slowly I looked up. Giant servos with the strongest armor I have ever seen. Polished and black. Muscular physique, giant, giant plasma canons attached to each servo. Taller than Breakdown. Blue glowing killer optics.

Ironhide.

Fortunately, he didn't even give me a look. But I was certain the voice came from the other transformer across from him. The big transformer looked a bit odd. His white red and green armor was a joke against Ironhide's, though no scientist wore strong armor, but the insanity I had heard in his voice was even as terrifying as Ironhide's muscles. I had never seen him before and if I got out of here alive, the first thing I'd do was to look him up in the Decepticon database.

"Right.", Ironhide answered with a rough, low voice and let the gun, he had taken from the insane bot, click as he unlocked it.

I wondered what would come next:

'Okay kids, now we all sit down in a big circle and everyone says his name, his age and how many Decepticon's he's already killed.' Yay.

"This is how you kill a Decepticon with a head shot."

My head jerked around to find several soldiers jumping down a yellow Autobot who grinned all over the face. The only thing that looked dangerous on him was the color of his optics, but even those were wide opened and I immediately understood, why he was the least dangerous one.

Bumblebee.

He found my gaze and gave me a high-pitched beep, as if he wanted to greet me. Then he carefully took one of his hands around a robe attached to a soldier that jumped off his chest and waved. I turned around, to look if the boy, Sam, was behind me, or anyone else he could wave to, but, embarrassingly, I stared at a plain metal wall. Blushing, I turned back around and lifted my hand, then quickly jogged after the others. Bumblebee said goodbye with another high-pitched beep.

Okay, two of eight. Bumblebee and Ironhide, check. Now Ratchet, Optimus, Jazz and the two others.

But except for a bunch of soldiers, I didn't see anyone else anymore.

Then, the white, red and green armored Autobot noticed us and bent down. "Oh, good. You are here. My name's Wheeljack. I do hope you have answers for him. I have never seen him so upset." For a second, his eyes flickered to me and I quickly looked down, following Charlotte Mearing and Lennox. Ironhide and the Autobot called Wheeljack passed us with their big steps.

"Optimus, you have met Charlotte Mearing? Our director of national intelligence." Lennox said to... a truck. Not that it was surprising that Optimus Prime was a vehicle, but the truck was impressive. It didn't look dangerous if you weren't aware of whom it actually was. If you knew who was under this blue and red paintjob, this giant tires with those ingenious rims and these dark windows, you could barely stay conscious. A desk -plain, without anything on it- stood in front of him. No chair, but what would the Prime need a chair for anyway?

Suddenly, a red Autobot appeared out of nothing. "He's in a bad mood. He's not talking to anybody today." the bot said with a strong, Italian accent.

Charlotte Mearing came to a halt next to the desk and looked up at Ironhide. "What is this? The silent treatment?" I swallowed, afraid they'd crush her because of the mocking tone in her voice, but Ironhide stayed calm.

"We've seen that and this is not that." he answered while walking over to his master. His voice was rough and yet so soft, it gave me chills.

The red white and green Autobot called Wheeljack tried to back him up. "Definitely not."

Ironhide got dangerously close to his master. "This is worse." he said to us. "Prime! Make something out of yourself!" he growled and thundered his master with the fist on the car roof. Slowly and dangerously, the Prime transformed with a growl, while Ironhide deadpanned "He's pissed."

There I stood. In front of Optimus Prime. The cruel murderer of so many Decepticon comrades. The one who took the life out of my home planet, Cybertron, and who brought us the war.

"You lied to us!"

No battle mask, no weapons and yet I still managed to get goose bumps on my arms. It was his voice. His simple voice. Unfortunately, I had to confess, that his voice was the most impressive one I had ever heard. Genius, epic, rough, dark and yet so soothing. For a second, I understood why so many transformers were Autobots. If he held a speech, the whole universe must go silent.

"Everything humans know of our planet, we were told, it'd all been shared. So why was this found in human possession?" He pointed to the desk. Now, I got aware that there was something lying on the desk. It was round, like a ball and had broken wires on some sides. I've never seen anything like this before.

"We've been in the dark on this, also. It was director only clearance in sector 7, also now." Then, Charlotte Mearing suddenly turned to me. "The bag."

Oh shit! I searched around hectically, not knowing which one she meant. "Which bag?" I whispered slightly panicked. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed at me like a snake. "Hermes berkin, green ostrich!"

Then she turned to Optimus and whispered "Oh my god."

I quickly grabbed the bag and rushed over to her, freezing when Optimus Prime's gaze caught mine and I staggered backwards when he finally let go of it, after what felt like eons. Then I met Bumblebee's gaze. He looked sad. Because of me?

She put out some papers and started talking stuff I couldn't understand. On one hand, because black points started to cloud my vision, I heard everything with some sort of echo and I got dizzy, but couldn't hold on to anything and on the other hand, because what she told him made no sense. At least to me. But with time, the Autobot leader's face became friendlier. Damn, he could act. Lord Megatron would've torn the dragon's head off if she'd ever talk to him like that.

For about thirty minutes, I tried to listen to them and was surprised to see this side of the Prime. It was already a miracle that Lord Megatron permitted me inside the Decepticon ranks, though I was probably one of the lowest there. How could the Prime, who had been treated as a deity back in the golden age, see all these vermin crawling around him? Was all this really worth getting a small advantage against the Decepticons?

The bag got thrown against my stomach and I bend because the hard corners really hurt. That'd give me some bruises. I really looked forward to tell Knock Out that I got clubbed by a Hermes berkin, green ostrich bag. I would never ever forget that name again. It was like burned into my head.

"Lara!" And again, she stood a few meters away, waiting for me. The Autobot called Wheeljack gave me some sort of a comforting smile. Wow. So many people smiling at me today. Is my job seriously that bad?

Trying not to look too conspicuous, I tiptoed after the dragon and blew a streak of my brown wig out of my sight. My arms hurt, as did my legs and my heart still wouldn't slow down. At least the black points in front of my eyes were gone and had taken the dizziness and the echoes with them.

On our way back, we left Ironhide, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, the red Autobot and Optimus Prime behind, but went the same way back as we came. She brought me into another room in this labyrinth of doors and aisles and stairs and showed me her office in here. This would be the only place I would work. Next to her full and definitely not orderly desk, was another one, only a few meters away. It was smaller, and except for the simple computer empty. Obviously, my desk was not as expensive as Charlotte Mearing's, but hers was filled with papers and folders and had to hold a lot of weight.

She took three batches of papers from her desk and let them fall next to my computer. "These are the information about the possible Decepticon incidents of the last three months. I need them all scanned into the computer and ordered after feasibility, significance and extent of damage. The scanner is under your desk. And, oh, you are dismissed when you're ready." With these words, she left the room. I sighed and looked at the tons of paper. I was pretty certain, that I wouldn't get home within the next four hours. So I started scanning and arranging.

(-)

I had been right. It had taken me over five hours to get ready and Epps had said the truth. I hated this job! It was already late in the afternoon, and I saved everything for the last time, took the USB stick next to my table and saved it on the stick to. Then I laid the stick into the drawer of her desk, closed the window I had opened about three hours ago and stretched my limbs with a hearty yawn. Before leaving the room, I drank up the rest of the coffee that was left in the cup, which Epps had brought me before he had gone home. Then I put the cup into the garbage can and left the room with an exhausted sigh.

I had to ask four persons for the way out of the building, until another secretary finally walked it with me. I thanked her and went out of the building. The soldiers recognized me and let me through without saying anything. Not even goodbye.

With my hands in my pockets, I walked down the street, not knowing how I would get home. I decided to take a taxi to where Knock Out had brought me this morning and was happy, when the driver wasn't trying to have a conversation with me. I rested my head in the seat cushion and closed my eyes. Shortly before I could fall asleep, we arrived and I paid him.

Exhausted I got out and waited until the taxi had disappeared. There was no car on the parking lot, but after a few seconds, the ground bridge opened behind me and I smiled relieved, knowing, that Soundwave must have seen me coming.

Like a zombie, I tumbled through it, my eyes hurt and I had problems to keep them open, and on the other side, got thrown to the ground by Ravage, who was obviously more than happy to see me. I looked up to stare into Soundwave's face plate, which was only a few feet away from me. He had kneeled down, and as Ravage hopped off me, his long, thin fingers helped me up and gently touched the wig.

"Oh.", I whispered and tore it off, revealing my read, curly hair. The wig quickly wandered into my bag. I could hear Ravage snicker and Soundwave stood up again, slowly and gracefully. And the second he stood straight, a red Aston Martin sped around the corner, only to transform right in front of me and I blushed, because the first thing I got from him was neither a hello nor a hug, but a scan. A deep and long scan.

"I'm fine." I cawed, and coughed after that to clean my throat. I was nearly crying. Then, when Breakdown came rushing in, Knock Out scooped me into his arms and pressed me against his chest armor.

"I thought I'd lose you." he whispered and I heard that he was as near to the tears as I was, though I knew his training had taken him the ability to cry. No Decepticon warrior was able to, because they were actually supposed to not show any emotions. Just as Soundwave did.

When Airachnid came in followed by seven Steves, he sat me on the ground again. "Lord Megatron already awaits you, Nightbird." she cooed and I knew she was proud of me. She would have hated anyone else for that, but because I couldn't take her the chance of the post as second in command, I was tolerated. No, more than that. She liked me.

I nodded and we followed her out of the room. Breakdown smiled at me and I returned it. In difference to the smiles I gave in the Autobot base, this was a real one.

The command room was full. Every Decepticon from the warship, drones included, must be in here. The drones were, clearly separated from the higher ranked, on the lower platform and the others on the upper. I noticed Starscream who stood closest to Lord Megatron and Airachnid placed herself in front of him. Then Soundwave and, to my surprise, Knockout, Breakdown was the opposite of Thundercracker, and Skywarp was opposite of Ravage. All let the way to the platform on which Lord Megatron stood free and when he turned around, I bowed with a smile on my lips.

"Nightbird. I see you have come back. Did you locate the Autobot base?" he asked and I just had to compare his voice to the Prime's.

"Yes, my Lord." A murmur went through the crowd around me.

"Nightbird, rise. Soundwave, take the coordinates."

I stood up and glanced at Soundwave who was leaving his place next to Starscream and went to the computer. Silently, I followed him and he gave me a lift onto the keyboard. In return, I gave him the coordinates and Soundwave typed them in. Immediately, the picture of the Department of Health and Human Services showed up and Soundwave looked at me as if he wanted a confirmation. I nodded and Megatron stepped forward.

"And you are certain, that this truly is the Autobot base." Lord Megatron asked, apparently not convinced.

"Yes, my Lord. I saw Optimus Prime inside with four of his warriors. Though two of them hadn't been shown to me before. I believe they just arrived shortly, my Lord."

"Two new ones you say? Do you have names for me?"

I nodded. "One, my Lord. Wheeljack. And I also have seen a former Decepticon inside their base."

"A prisoner or a traitor?"

"Wheelie, my Lord. The scrap metal Drone that disappeared. The Autobot insignia on his shoulder confirmed my conjecture of him being a traitor." Another murmur. My eyes twitched to the drones and back to my Lord. "Silence!", he roared and in the next second, the loudest thing in the room was my heartbeat, while I was holding my breath.

"Soundwave, send Laserbeak to confirm the Autobots location. If Nightbird is telling the truth, we are going to attack when the sun sets."

I frowned. Soundwave had already send Laserbeak out. I had never seen Laserbeak before, I had heard about him, but never really seen him. He looked more than impressive.

"Lord Megatron, I suggest you to wait with the attack." I suddenly said. I didn't mean to, it just came out of my mouth, without me really thinking of it.

Knock Out, Breakdown, Airachnid, yes even Soundwave froze at that. No one ever told Lord Megatron to change a plan. Well, no one I had ever met.

He turned around again, his glare seemed to stab me, everywhere, was trying to kill me. "And what makes you suggest that?" he asked with a calm voice, but Knock Out had taught me to never judge him by the tone of his voice. I bowed lightly.

"I have obtained information that may be from interest to you, Master"

"Talk, Nightbird." His voice was cold. That type of cold like the silence before a storm. Say a wrong word and you're dead.

"The Autobot commander was upset because the humans withheld him the information of their possession of an object that appeared to be from big importance to him, my Lord." I said, still bowing. My back began to hurt as much as my eyes and I was still so fragging tired!

It was silent, and suddenly, when I dared to look up for a single second, he was only two feet away from me. Optics glowing. "What was it?" he whispered eagerly.

I swallowed and wanted to look at the ground again, but his gaze caught mine like the Prime's had done. "I am afraid my Lord, but I have never seen such an object before. It appeared to be some sort of... sphere with a few broken wires attached to it. They apparently found it in Chernobyl. And it had to have something to do with a mission they call "The dark side of the moon", but I will need more time to find out what kind of mission it was and what object."

Megatron nodded. His optics were still glowing eerily. "Decepticons, prepare for battle. The day Nightbird gathers the information we need; we will attack the Autobot base." And his optics were still glowing when he left the room.

* * *

><p>Okay, that was it. I didn't really like Bay's Wheeljack, so this one is the Wheeljack from G1. Please tell me what you think and if I got the movie quotes right. The more Reviews I get, the faster you get the next chapter ;)<p> 


	10. Information

******_Hey guys! As I promised, here's the next chapter._**

**_Have fun!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Information<strong>

"I am soooo bored! What shall I do? I am so bored!" I sang around the empty house and swore I could hear some glass shatter. But what else do you do at four in the morning when you're completely ready for an appointment at six o'clock and your driver's coming at quarter to six? There's nothing on the TV I'd watch and I wasn't hungry either nor in the mood for a walk at four o'clock in the fragging morning! The last hour I spent with reading, listening to music and doing things I actually never really did: like tidying up the entire house and... Heh, just kidding! I was running up and down the stairs and sang random things to random melodies. I had already called Knock Out but he had been in such a deep recharge, that he, when I had finally woke him up, had said I should be as nice and close my mouth to let other, not as extraordinary people as I, sleep. Though he had said that with a pretty impressive, colourful vocabulary which I shall never repeat.

In the end, I ended up lying on the carpet in the living room and imagined, Ravage would come jumping through the window and telling me, they already had what they wanted, so that I wouldn't have to go to the Autobot base again. I guess, that would be a good thing, wouldn't it? Because somehow I was looking forward to see Lennox and Epps again. Though they were only humans, they'd been nice to me. They hadn't judged me, because of my name... Wait. They hadn't known my name. Not my real one. Lara was a human name, Nightbird not. It was no name a human would carry. Who said, the soldiers wouldn't have reacted differently, if they had known it? Who said, they wouldn't have reacted like anybody else did? Even Hannah and Ron were like that. They had even asked Knock Out whether it was possible to give me another name! No. Never. It was mine! My identity! The Decepticons accepted that. That and who I was. Who I was always meant to be!

I lifted myself up and stalked into the kitchen. Humans weren't worth living. I was no human. I got raised differently! It felt as if I was in the wrong body! And if I had the chance to get myself into the body of a Cybertronian, I would do it. At all cost! I would do anything to differ myself from those vermin! Probably, one day, if I was important enough to the Decepticons, Lord Megatron would make that possible.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

_"Daddy?" The little redhead ran up to me and I kneeled down to lift her into a tight hug. She giggled and blew against my hair. I just cuddled her closer and gave her a gentle kiss._

_When I turned around to go to my vehicle form, I saw a totally different car. That wasn't me. I couldn't control it! I slightly panicked when I turned around again and my body started to sweat a bit under the slight panic I got when I couldn't find my real body. Wait, holograms weren't able to sweat!_

_I looked down the body I was trapped in. This was definitely my hologram, but where was I? The perspective was wrong too. Normally I could see through both bodies! My real optics and the eyes of my hologram, but now, I couldn't even feel my cybertronian body. I was in the body of a human! I was a human!_

_My attention turned back to the little sparkling in my arms, when Nightbird looked up and focused on me. The little green diamonds under her unbelievable long eyelashes sparkled and the most beautiful smile since the beginning of all worlds came over her face. "Daddy.", she said. And I was happy. Happy, because of me being human. Because of me being the father Nightbird earned. Being equal._

_A smile spread across my face. Not as beautiful as hers, but she seemed to like it. She nestled her head against my chin and closed her eyes. Yes, I would be able to life as a human. For Nightbird._

Surprisingly, I was disappointed when I woke up. Indeed, it had been a confusing dream, but on the other hand, I wished it was true.

With a sigh, I stat up on my berth and stared at the other corner of the room. I had made her too much of a cybertronian, I knew that. Giving her that name had been... stupid. If I had known that humans got judged by their names, I would probably have picked one of theirs, though they all sounded stupid and illogical. How much would that have prevented Nightbird from?

_Flashback_

_"Knock?" She half sat half laid on her teddy, which still was much bigger than her, and some of her hair fell into her sight. With the tip of her fingers, she put it back behind her right ear, but it immediately fell into her sight again. Her body had grown and she had become more intelligent. Three years already. Primus, time was running so fast!_

_"Yes, sweetspark?" I answered. She was so cute when she looked at me like that! Unfortunately, her gaze fell to the ground when she asked, "What's a Nightbird?"_

_Errr... "A bird at night?"_

_She nodded as if she had expected that. "What do Nightbird's look like?" Was I imagining the sadness in her eyes?_

_"They don't exist, sweetspark. So how could I know how they..." What are you telling her there?! Are you just saying that she doesn't exist? "I mean, Nightbird, sweetspark, _you_ are one. _You_ have to tell me what they look like."_

_She looked up at me, a single tear on her cheek and I hurried to wipe it away. I hated seeing her crying. It nearly tore out my spark. "Me?" she asked. Her big, green eyes held me in place._

_"Yes, you. Only you. But I can tell that they are beautiful, graceful creatures." And I had to admit that I was proud of making her smile. She was the most beautiful human I had ever seen and she would one day become as graceful as no one else. I knew that. I was her creator after all._

_Flashback ends_

I laughed slightly at that memory. The next day she had given me a picture she had painted in school. It had been a nightbird. Of course, nothing looked perfect when a three year old painted it, but I had kept it. It always lay inside my glove compartment, as some sort of a lucky charm, or whatever humans called it.

I opened my subspace and picked it out, carefully. The white paper was already old, but the colors were still the same. The little black bird with its, or better her, red eyes and some red feathers flying in a dark night sky full of stars and an illuminating moon in the background and -what always made me smirk- the small planet on the right, for a three year old oddly detailed, was supposed to be Cybertron. The red feathers were because of her hair, but the red eyes had always concerned me. Nightbird wanted them. Back when she had painted them, she hadn't known that only Decepticons had red eyes. That a part of me didn't want her to become a Decepticon. It still hated that idea, but this part of me had lost. If I looked at her painting now, I began to miss the times where I had to worry about her friends, her name and the problems that seemed banal compared to the ones I had to worry about now. Of course there had always been the small possibility that Soundwave would one day track my signal and send one of the Drones here while I hadn't been with her...

I shivered at that thought. Not even the Drones knew the word mercy when they stood in front of humans. I didn't bother killing humans, but at least I thought about who I killed. Most of the humans earned their death and yet, some of them, I would never be able to harm. No matter who would tell me to.

With a sad smile on my face, I put the picture back where it belonged and left the room. Sometimes, living in the past wasn't as bad as it sounded.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

"Where have you been? I'm going to be late!" I cried hysterically as I threw myself into the red Aston Martin. His hard laughter caused the seats to vibrate. "I'm only three minutes later than normally and you still have fifteen left. By the way, we're taking the bridge as always, so you'll still come ten minutes too early. So calm down."

It had taken tons of make-up to get the shadows under my eyes invisible. A hearty yawn escaped me and Knock Out clicked his tongue. "Someone didn't sleep so well tonight, Heh?" The gloating in his voice could impossible be ignored. "Yes. I called you. I learned some new words, you know?"

His engine revved irritated. He knew what I was talking about. "I'm sorry, okay? But even I need my beauty sleep." I laughed and noticed that I wasn't nervous at all, because of me going to the Autobot base again. Probably, because I knew, that Lord Megatron was pleased with me and my work? Yes, that had to be it.

"So, we're there." Knock Out exited the spacebridge and parked on the other side. "You be careful, okay? I don't want to have to fix you before the others even started."

Before the others even started. I knew what he meant. If I got the information, the hell would burst out. The whole Decepticon army waited for my signal to kill an entire base with hundreds of humans, who had family, children, husbands, wives, friends... I shook my head to get rid of that thought. I was a Decepticon! Decepticons don't show mercy at those things!

I lifted my chin and stepped out of Knock Out, entering the building without hesitation, but inside I wanted to turn around and run away. Away from the future, back to the past. Back to Mrs. Cuddles, my giant teddy bear who had always been there for me, when everyone else had been gone. Sometimes, when I had told him about my problems, he had talked back. Now I know, it had been Knock Out, who'd installed a microphone inside the teddy, to even be there for me if he was on a mission, but still, it had been a great time.

"Ah, Lara. There you are." Mrs. Mearing surprised me from behind and I winced at her voice. "Is everything alright?" Why did her voice sound so nice today?

_'No, nothing is alright. You will die soon. You and the cute soldiers and Bumblebee and everyone else. And that will all be my fault.'_

"Yes Mrs. Mearing. I just had a pretty rough night." I answered instead and the compassion in her eyes surprised me even more. Don't start liking her! "Yes, it's pretty much to understand, isn't it? You'll get used to it... one day." She gave me a cup with hot, steaming coffee. I took it gratefully and sipped at it. The hot liquid flew down my throat and I shivered. Until now, I hadn't noticed I had been freezing, but now even the fatigue went away.

We didn't talk throughout the whole drive. I took her bags and carried them in. Without hesitation I walked through the metal detector, a professional expression on my face as I took the bags again. I felt numb, probably because I knew that the soldier who just grinned and wished me good day, would not survive long. No one here would. No one except for me.

"Lennox!" she shouted. "Get me the NASA guys down here." Lennox, who had appeared on the aisle turned around within his walk and did as Mrs. Mearing commanded. We followed him, but ended up in the direct base instead of walking further up, like he was.

Bumblebee wasn't here today. I hated that. He was probably the only Autobot I could maybe have not hated one day. Other than Optimus Prime and Ironhide, who were both there. Optimus Prime's vehicle form stood in front of the desk again, but the thing on it was gone.

Wheeljack stood in a corner further away, next to … Oh my... by the Allspark! It was him! Ratchet! Cybertron's best and most famous medic stood about thirty feet away from me. Good or bad thing? No clue. He could torture me, probably even worse than the legendary Shockwave, but it was such an honor to see a Cybertronian who had gotten this far! Of course it would've been better if he had taken Lord Megatron's offer and had joined the Decepticons, but nobody's perfect.

I took a deep breath and the dizziness returned. Darn! I had never been so glad to be able to stop walking like now. I took a few deep breathes while Optimus Prime transformed in front of us. It was still such an amazing sight. When my gaze shortly returned to Ratchet, he watched me with thoughtful optics and I prayed to Primus I wouldn't fall unconscious.

"THE BAG!" the Dragon hissed at me and I quickly grabbed it and gave it to her. Hermes berkin, green ostrich. Yep, I'd never forget that again.

Luckily, I was wise enough to listen this time. "This is a secret few men know, and fewer remain alive." Lennox came in with five elderly men in blue suits, like uniforms. "Yo, 'hide!", he greeted and earned a death glare from Mrs. Mearing. "Lennox.", the black Autobot with the dangerously often updated plasma cannons greeted back with a simple nod. Okay, I hadn't expected him to be such a good actor.

"Allow me to please introduce to you, two of NASA's founding mission directors and Astronaut Dr Buzz Aldrin. One of the first two men to step foot on the moon. Sir, Optimus Prime."

Probably the oldest of the men stepped in front of the big Autobot leader, blissfully unaware of the hot blades hidden under his armor could cut him into pieces within a nano click. "From a fellow space traveler, it's a true honor." Optimus Prime kneeled down in front of him and, was I imagining this, or did his face soften?

"The honor is mine." This voice gave me goose bumps and I couldn't resist, but I wanted to hear him say more. Then, Mrs. Mearing interrupted my thinking. "The entire space race in the 1960s, it appears, was a respond to an event." Her voice sounded so horrible, so unmusical compared to the Prime's.

"Our astronauts investigated a crashed alien ship. No survivors on board." I didn't see who spoke, but I didn't mind, it was simply one of those men. Not the oldest one, but his voice sounded even as bad as the Dragon's. Fortunately, the older men continued. "We were sworn to secrecy by our commander and chief." he said as if he wanted to excuse himself. "The total of thirty-five people knew the real plan at NASA." the other man replied. Now I saw his face. A face like every else. One I would forget rather quickly. Another man stepped forward. "The government managed to land unmanned probes. Somehow, they must have picked up that fuel rock."

Now it was getting interesting. I tried to get every single word into my head and save it. "We believe the Russians degusted, that the rye was an affectionable fuel assembly, believed they had it mastered and tried to harvest it at Chernobyl." Mrs Mearing said and I saved her words, trying not to look too determined. **(Okay guys, if anyone of you knows what she actually said, please tell me so I can change that)**

The man with the normal face talked again. "We landed six missions in all, took hundreds of photos and samples. We locked them away forever and the moon program was shut down." What was the moon program really about? This Cybertronian ship?

"Well, did you search the crash volt?" Ironhide then asked. Hey, this guy started to get useful.

"The ships name was the Arc_." By the Allspark! _"I watched it escape Cybertron myself. It was carrying an Autobot technology which would have won us the war. And, it's captain.",the Prime said.

"Who is its captain?"

Even I could have answered her that question and I knew, Megatron would give me a much higher state when I brought him this information. "The great Sentinel Prime. The technologies inventor. He was commander of the Autobots before me." Charlotte Mearing nodded. "Lara, get our visitors into the war room. Lennox, you may accompany them." NO! I had to hear what they were talking about! On the other side, I had to do my job and I didn't really enjoy being around the Autobots.

"If you would please follow me, Gentlemen." I said and took the lead. Lennox hurried to get to my side. When I looked around again, Ratchets gaze laid on me. It would be such a waste to kill him. Hopefully Lord Megatron would give him the offer another time. Perhaps, yes perhaps he would join us. Though the chance was rather small.

I walked through the door Lennox held open for me. The other men truly were Gentlemen, because they all waited for me to go through first. I smirked. At least they wouldn't be here when we attacked. Hopefully.

"So, I talked to Epps and he said you've had a pretty hard day, yesterday. That happens. A lot, but if you don't look on that side, your job isn't so bad after all. And Bumblebee seems to like you. You know, the yellow one from yesterday." I nodded. "Yes, I already assumed something like that."

"Are you gonna stay?", he asked hopefully. I smiled while looking down at my feet. My face turned red. Hopefully, Soundwave couldn't control the cameras in here too. "I guess." He smiled. "You know, it doesn't happen that often that someone with a position as important as yours switches the working place. We've had pretty big problems getting a new assistant for Charlotte Mearing. It had been far too much for the girl before you. I'm happy your taking all of this so good. I still know how confused I was when I first saw the big guy."

"The big guy?", I asked confused. "Optimus.", he answered as if it was obvious to call such a mighty Cybertron 'big guy'. "Okay."

We arrived in front of the war room. I've had no clue where it was, what had probably been the reason why Lennox had come with me. "Gentlemen, would you please take a seat until Mrs. Charlotte Mearing approaches." They all went into the big room which was probably even as big as the control room in the Decepticon warship. The whole wall on the opposite was filled with screens and many desks with more screens and peoples working behind them were placed in front of it in probably five to six rows. To the right stood a giant table, which easily held place for over thirty persons, and the men walked over to it without any hesitation.

Lennox nodded and we left the war room. I didn't like it. The noise of the many fingers typing on the keyboards made me nervous. It was like an incredibly fast clock telling the people how much time they still had. Tick, tock, tick, tock.

We met Mrs. Mearing on the way and she took the green bag out of my hand. _Hermes birkin green ostrich_. "You are free to go, Lara. I have no more work for you today. Bring my bags to the driver and you are dismissed." I could scream right now. I had to know what she would be telling the men inside! But just when I opened my mouth to say something, she walked away, leaving me alone with Lennox.

"Hey, I don't really have anything to do. What do you think about a coffee? You get your bags to the driver and I go get Epps? Or do you already have planned something else?" Though mostly everything told me I should say no, a tiny part of my mind said 'Why not? How many chances will you get to talk to them? Probably you'll get some more information.' and this part won. "Sure. We'll meet at the entrance in ten minutes?" He nodded.

When I walked down the steps, I felt like if I was back in high school again. A guy called Vince had invited me for the prom and though he hadn't really been the type of guy every girl was dreaming of, I had felt good. Until Knock Out had banned me from the prom. He might be the best creator ever in most of the disciplines, but if it's about boys, everything's forbidden.

When the bags were with the driver and Epps and Lennox came out of the building, I was glad I had chosen this way. They walked on each side of me and I felt protected. Like if I had two bodyguards. Two really handsome bodyguards. Everyone turned around after us. The little teeny girl I still was, I had to grin throughout the whole time. Epps seemed to notice it and joined me.

We got to the next Starbucks, bought our coffee and sat down in the corner furthest away from the door on the second floor. "So, Lara. Tell us something about you." I raised an eyebrow. "Another interview? I thought I already had the job." I stated sarcastically. Lennox laughed. "Sure. Do you have family?"

"Mother and Father." I answered, staying in my role. Epps coughed, acting unreasonably surprised. "Do you seriously want to tell me that there is no man in your life?" I giggled and shook my head. "Why? Interested?" "Married!" Lennox shouted proudly and showed me the golden ring on his finger.

"I'm always there if you need me baby!" Epps replied and leaned over to me with a mischievous grin. "Keep on dreaming." I answered with a laugh. Unfortunately, he was too old for me. Unfortunately.

"So Lennox." I broke the silence that had followed the laughter after my statement. "Do you have children?" He nodded and took out his wallet, to show me the picture of an unbelievable cute baby. "Annabelle Lennox." Epps imitated an 'Awwww', which was followed by my real "Awwwwwwwwwww!" Lennox grinned like the proud father he was. That somehow reminded me of how Knock Out looked like when I did something good in front of other people. This typical THIS-is-MY-daughter position.

After about half an hour of random talking (we were not allowed to mention the Autobots or anything else in public) Epps called a taxi for me. He was a very kind guy and I really liked him, but I looked much older than I actually was. Though it was kinda cute, because it was obvious that he liked me. He really liked me.

I said goodbye with a kiss on their cheeks and saw them waving as the taxi drove away. It would hurt. Now that I knew Lennox had such an adorable daughter, it would hurt even more.

The bridge opened shortly after the taxi driver had disappeared. I wondered how they always knew when I would arrive. Didn't they have anything else to do?

This time, no one was waiting for me when I walked into the warship. The bridge operator didn't even look at me as he closed the bridge. That'll change! You will respect me Steve, ya hear that?

I put my wig into my purse and clenched my hands into fists, so that they didn't shiver that hard. My heart was pounding. I knew what this meant. I had to go to Lord Megatron without any support or back up.

The way seemed to be much shorter than normally and I didn't even see any Drones on my way. But I was obviously relieved, when I saw Soundwave in the control room, standing next to Megatron. Whatever he had showed his Master; he stopped and turned around to me. I saw my reflection in his face plate and nothing of his frame showed any emotion. The normality in that comforted me in a strange way.

"Nightbird.", the rough voice of my Lord and Master made me look up. He stepped forward and I immediately bowed. "Apologies for my unannounced presence, my Lord. I obtained the information you needed."

His eyes widened and he stepped closer. "What did you find out?" he half whispered half roared.

"The mission called 'The dark side of the moon' was made because of a cybertronian spacecraft which apparently had suffered a crash landing there. The ship appears to be carrying technology, which could win the Autobots the war, and its captain, the former Autobot commander Sentinel Prime. The ships name is..." I stated but Lord Megatron's amazed roar interrupted me. "The Arc!"

Then, he whirled around until he stood directly in front of Soundwave. "Alert the troops! We will be attacking at sunrise!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Bad ending, I know :D<strong>_

_**What do you guys expect to happen in the next chapters? Will she join the Autuobots anytime soon as some of you had already guessed? Who knows? **_

_**I do! But I'd love to hear what your thinking. So please Review. Oh, and there's a poll on my side where you can vote which of my stories you want to be my main story. I'll try to upload that one once in a week then. **_


	11. The Attack

**_Hey guys! Another week another chapter ;)_**

**_This is a veeeerry dark chapter, but I hope you guys like it._**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Attack<strong>_

Nervous as I was, I tipped with the biro on the report in front of me. I was actually supposed to be rewriting it, but for doing so, I would have to read it first. Stupid thing, every time I finished a sentence and started the next, I forgot what I had just read. Concentrating in such a situation was so damn hard! And if that wasn't enough, I was so fragging hungry! Normally, I never eat when I know that I have to go to the Decepticon base for longer, because they had no restroom. Yesterday evening, I had eaten a noodle soup and that was it! Today, I hadn't even eaten an apple! Simply a glass dark horse. Nothing else. Now, my stomach was about to kill me and had already complained for the last two hours. This would be a pretty long day. Fortunately, Knock Out had promised me that he'd get me some food into the base when they were ready here, but who knew how long that would take?

Another glance at the clock above the door and I turned around to look outside the window. Mrs. Mearing was somewhere in the base... with Lennox... and Epps... and other nice soldiers. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. They are just humans, Nightbird! Vermin's, insects, creatures not worthy living! But, they were so nice to me. And Lennox had a daughter and a wife and a life Epps would have one day too, like all the other soldiers here! Though, somehow Megatron was right. Humans were puny, selfish and weak, too small to actually do anything. Too stupid to get that into their brains. Too determined to give up... Wasn't it exactly that, what was good of them? Of us? I was a human too, after all. Though Knock Out had more than once said I was much more of a Decepticon than a human. Did I want that? I had always known that Decepticons were the ones who brought death, agony and pain, but it never bothered me. Knock Out was a Decepticon. Breakdown was a Decepticon, but was I one? Could I let them kill so many humans? Could I kill so many humans?

The clocks hands moved painfully slow and I knew that they were teasing me when they went even slower than before. "What the...?" I whispered and stood up. The biro in my hand fell onto the desk as I made my way to the window. My headache got worse with every tick of the unbelievably loud clock. It was like when you wrote an important test in school, except for the fact that time was going too slow and not too fast.

_**Flashback**_

_"The first shot will hit the base at approximately 7:57. Make sure you are out of range when the crossfire begins. One of the Drones will get you back to our base as soon as the panic bursts out. The only thing you have to do is to scream around like a pathetic little human girl and try to get away from everyone. Both Bot and Con. But it has to look real, okay?" he said while looking at me with the most serious face I had ever seen on him. It scared me, much more than anything else. Why was he like this? He was never like this! Not even when the Decepticons had found out about me. Not even when Lord Megatron had announced that I would have to spy the Autobot base._

_"Approximately 7:57? Don't I get a more accurate time?" I asked sarcastically, trying pathetically to stop him from being so serious. I didn't like that. That wasn't my father! That was someone much, much older. Someone who had undergone so much more cruelty and sorrow than one could imagine._

_A sad smile. My attempt had failed miserably. "The shot will be from Starscream, so make sure it won't hit your part of the building. You better be near the exit." He frowned, optics still focusing on me._

_"Don't worry daddy. Everything's gonna be alright." I whispered. Another smile, nearly a real one, but it didn't reach his optics. He didn't mean it. "You doubt that yourself, Nightbird."_

_I hugged him, around the neck because the rest of his body was too big for my arms to reach around it, and it felt better than anything else on the world, when he hugged me back. "I love you, daddy." _I am afraid, daddy._ "Don't worry." _Don't leave me._ "It'll be alright." _Maybe.

_I felt his fingers on my back, his lips gently touching my hair and knew that he knew what I was thinking. Sometimes, he knew me better than I did. "Maybe." he answered._

**Flashback ends**

A single tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, checking my make up in the small mirror in my purse. I still had fifteen minutes. Starting to work now wouldn't help me in any way. So I decided to make my way down into a safer area. But what if somebody asked why I left my working place?

Hectically, I searched around the room, searching for what could have made me leave my work. Err... The desk, the window, the clock, the shelves, the door, the copier, the scanner, the computer, the chairs... Wait! The copier! There's no paper in it! Well, okay, there was still plenty of paper in it, but that was a problem from rather small size.

Rapidly, I took out the tons of paper which were still in there. According to the information I had, after the attack there wouldn't be anything left of it anyways. So, I opened one of the many drawers and simply threw all of the paper in it. Then I put on a serious face and made my way down, trying to look completely normal.

Nobody noticed me, as I jogged down the stairs. Except for one soldier who stared at me full of shock, but that wasn't so bad, since I had high heels on and jogged down stairs, what must be a pretty unbelievable thing for a man. He nearly stumbled and fell them down, but caught his balance again in the last second. _You're not going to survive this day,_ I thought and felt how my heart constricted.

When I turned around a corner, I saw the lady's restroom. Without thinking much, I opened the door and ran to the sink, to have something to hold on to. I felt dizzy. The sough in my ears didn't help much either. I turned on the cold water and let it flow over my arms. Made a bowl with my hands and splashed it into my face. It didn't help. I sank to the floor and wrapped my arms around my legs, while I cried like a pathetic little girl.

They would kill everybody here and I couldn't do anything about it! But what was so much worse, even if I could, I somehow knew I wouldn't possess the courage to help them. Apparently, Annabel would have to grow up without her father standing by her side, as Knock Out had been at mine.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

"Decepticons! Attack!"

I hadn't even been able to check whether Nightbird was safe or not, as the flyers left the warship, led by Starscream. I knew he would obey Megatron with this command, but if his second shot 'accidently' hit the wrong building? I shivered at that thought.

With Breakdown and some Vehicons behind me, I walked straight towards the groundbridge, weapons activated. The bridge operator had already opened it. Poor little guy. He wouldn't even get a tip of the fun out there, though he looked like he didn't care.

"Hammer time!" I heard from behind me and a grin made its way onto my face. Killing those humans was no problem to me. They weren't Nightbird and after all, I was a Decepticon.

**Flashback**

_Bow before him! I told myself harshly. Megatron had commanded me into the control room. I had suspected that something bad would come. But I hadn't suspected something that bad! I started seeing how bad it could get, as Megatron even sent Soundwave out of the room, so that we were completely alone. No drone, no Soundwave, no Starscream, no one._

_"Master, you requested to see me?" My optics were locked onto the ground and my processor was searching rapidly for the reason why this happened._

_"Ah, Knock Out! Yes. You may rise, I have to talk to you about Nightbird." he said firmly as if it was something completely normal. A grin formed on his face as I looked up and he saw the sorrow written all over my face._

_"Indeed, she is a human worth talking about. I am surprised. She appears to be taking all this rather well. Doesn't she feel for her human comrades?"_

_I swallowed. Unfortunately, this was one of the situations when you held the life of someone else in your own hands. No doubt he would kill her if I answered wrong. But no doubt either he would punish me if I lied and he found out, what he most of the times did. But if I got punished, no one would be able to protect Nightbird._

_"Nightbird is a Decepticon, Master. She wishes not to be equated with the human race."_

_"Interesting. So you say she will not be trying to help them?" He titled his head barely recognizable to the right. I nodded._

_"Good. It would be such a waste to kill her, don't you think? I must confess, Nightbird differs herself from the humans in many ways. Probably even enough to come further than just to be a spy in our missions..." he said the last part more to himself than to me. "Very well. Though we'll have to wait for her decision. I have never met a human before who would help the Decepticon cause destroying its own planet."_

_"Nightbird doesn't see earth as her home planet. She takes Cybertron as her home and the Autobots as her enemies. While the humans are their ally, Nightbird will not hesitate to turn her back on the human race if you offer her a true place within the Decepticon ranks."_

_"I might do that. As long as she doesn't disappoint me..." A grin rose on his faceplates and I knew that he wouldn't pity Nightbird's death at all. He'd more likely enjoy killing her himself._

_"She won't."_

_A Drone entered the room and Megatron started leaving it. Without even thinking about it, I followed him. He hadn't dismissed me after all. Starscream stood right in front of the door and straightened as we passed him. "My Liege." he mumbled and bowed._

_"Is that true, Knock Out?"_

_I had to hurry to not get left behind. Oh Primus, Nightbird would have to run like hell if she wanted to stay next to Megatron while he was walking. "Why yes Master. She is quite small and fast!"_

_"Can she act? So that she won't be captured during her missions?"_

_"Well, I-I suppose?"_

_"If she can't, Starscream will have to teach her.", Megatron replied with a smirk as he passed his obviously annoyed second in command. Soundwave and I knew that Megatron had never been fooled by Starscream, but we also knew, that Megatron enjoyed seeing Starscream's plans fail. Though I sometimes thought, the flyer would one day succeed._

**Flashback ends**

_**Nightbird's POV**_

"The copier has no more paper in it.", I explained to the women. The serious expression on her face stayed, even when she said "I'll send someone." I actually had suspected that she gave me paper and not that this building had someone to fill the copiers with paper...

"Alright.", I replied with a nod. My expression was as serious as hers, but she didn't seem to be impressed. I didn't like this woman. Her light blond hair was pinned up and her age couldn't be estimated because of the many face lifting's she must have already had.

_You won't survive the day either_, this cruel voice in my head whispered and I caught myself by grinning at that thought. I didn't burst out into tears as in the restroom a few minutes ago. It had taken all of my reserves to get my make-up back on. Internally, I'd still be crying in three million years about Lennox and Epps. And Annabel and... NO! Stop it! Stay strong! They are just humans! Unworthy creatures! How often had I already said that to myself?

I turned around and my gaze fell onto the clock, just in time to hear the last _tick_ as the first bullet hit the building and the sirens turned on. "RUN!" a soldier from behind me screamed and pushed me through the door, outside the building. I had no other option than running. Within a few seconds hundreds of humans came out of every door and window and it would only be a matter of time until the Decepticons would attack this giant group. No matter whether I was still inside or not. I saw all the humans running around in panic, but it appeared to be in slow motion as the first body fell to the ground. The shot echoed through my head and I froze at a point where the people could still flee without tearing me with them. I saw how her head hit the stone, though I didn't hear the horribly hard impact, it was as if I felt it and her face turned to me, showing her eyes. She was still alive. The pain and the fear were the only thing I saw in her eyes. A delicate hand crawled over the asphalt as she reached out to me, the only one who had noticed her. Her mouth formed a single word. _Help._

I stood still, wasn't able to move as I saw how the crying woman slowly died under the feet of the crowd. And though the people pushed me and shouted at me to run away, I didn't move. I still stared at the woman, whose eyes were now lifeless, but the accusation inside them stayed.

She had still been young. Not much older than twenty. Her gold blonde hair slowly went dark red. No one gave her a look, no one brought her out of here and no one wanted to have anything to do with her.

I tore my gaze of the first victim and slowly walked away. The crowd was about fifty meters away from me and I started jogging after them, not thinking of the women behind me, who probably had a husband at home, waiting for her. Waiting forever.

"Soundwave!"

It was Optimus Prime's voice that would probably haunt me in my dreams tonight. I whirled around and saw something so horrific and cruel that it was permanently etched into my brain. Half of the Drones lay on the ground; dead, torn apart, cut into pieces, shot in their helms. Some of them were lifeless from energon loss. Above them stood a monster. A giant monster with red glowing swords where his hands should have been. The battle mask covered half of his face so that the only thing visible of it were its furious, deadly blue optics, locked on to one of the most important persons in my life.

Soundwave's face plate didn't show any emotions, as usual. He stood there, as if he was preparing for a big battle, but though I knew Soundwave was an undefeated fighter of the Decepticons, I doubted anything could survive an attack of the monster in front of him.

As it reached back and I saw the blade racing down at Soundwave, a horrible high-pitched scream escaped my throat. It was so loud and agonizingly distorted, that Soundwave's faceplate abruptly turned to me and for probably the first time, Soundwave showed an emotion. Rage.

His servo shot forward and grabbed the Prime's sword. Then he lifted the arm in his hands, ducked beneath it and turned it onto the back of its owner. Then, he gave me a look that screamed: RUN! Why aren't you running?!

So I turned around and ran away, but not without looking back once more and seeing how the other blade ripped through Soundwave's armor where his spark laid, making him fall to his knees. "NOOOOOOO!",I screamed. Stopping in my steps, but in the next second, a hand grabbed my arm and lifted me up.

I found myself in Epps arms. He was running down the street without showing the slightest sign of me being too heavy.

"The Decepticons are attacking!" he shouted right into my ear, but I didn't react. I was petrified. A member of my family had been killed no five seconds ago. I tried to look over Epps' shoulder, but he already threw me onto the hard ground, to find cover behind a rusty yellow and black car. "What has gotten into you? You could've been killed! Haven't you seen that beast?"

A single tear rolled down my cheek. Yes, I had seen it. While it had killed my friend.

"Hey, Lara. Are you hurt?!" Epps sounded alarmed and searched my body for any sign of an injury. I shook my head and immediately winced, when a grenade hit the ground about thirty feet to our left. "Can you walk?" I nodded. If I wasn't injured, then why shouldn't I be able to walk? He gave me a hand and I took it, without knowing why. _Run Epps. Or you're going to end like the woman. I don't want that, Epps. I like you._

"Listen to me, Lara. I have to help 'Hide and the others. I need you to get out of here, okay? Alive! See the empty street over there? Follow it and keep your body close to the walls. The 'Cons won't be able to see you from the air. Be safe, okay? Now, RUN!"

I didn't look back. My heart pounded like hell as I tried to make my way over to the street. The tears in my eyes made my eyesight blurry and the sound of screams mixed with shots and explosions only made the situation worse. For a while, I forgot my mission. I wanted to listen to what Epps had said and obey it. Run away from all this pain. And I had nearly reached the street, nearly reached the freedom, when I suddenly got grabbed from behind. I screamed and kicked and tried everything to get rid of the Drone's grasp, but it was too strong. To my dismay, I _had_ tried to get rid of the Drone's grasp. I wanted freedom! I wanted to be free from this endless war! Wanted to live my own life! Make my own decisions!

With another panicked scream, I whirled my head to the side. And within the transformation, my eyes met Ratchet's, who let the corpse of a drone fall lifelessly to the ground. I hadn't had enough time to see what he had thought as he'd seen me. We already entered the groundbridge.

I wasn't screaming anymore as the drone let me down onto the ground. I wasn't kicking anymore as he accompanied me to the quarters that appeared to be mine. But I was still crying, as the door closed behind him and I was alone again.

Did Ravage survive Soundwave's death? Did Laserbeak? Did his other children?***** Would I?

I climbed onto what appeared to be my berth and took off the wig. After glancing around for a second, I started to sob uncontrollably and finally felt as if I deserved it for not helping the woman. For distracting Soundwave and giving this monster the opportunity to kill him. I felt alone.

* * *

><p><strong><em>* Nightbird sees Ravage, Laserbeak and all the others (Which shall appear in later chapters) as Soundwave's children, because She see's Knock Out as her father, Ravage as her brother...<em>**

* * *

><p><strong><em>So, that was it. Was it too cruel for being rated T? Please tell me. And please don't hesitate to review. If you don't want to review, you can also PM me :) I'd love to know what you guys think is going to happen next. <em>**

**_You da best! ;) _**


	12. hunger makes stupid, stupidity makes sic

_****Hello my dear readers! Wazzup?_

_I'm really really sorry I haven't updated for so long. BUT you're gonna get an extra long chapter! And a pretty important one too!_

_WARNING: This chappie is kinda a bit... disgusting? Well, I had to think of a logical way to make this... So if you guys are sick at the moment I warn y'all! I'd have wanted that too, because I have a pretty weak psyche..._

_Well anyways, hope ya guys like it!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hunger makes stupid, stupidity makes sick<strong>_

"Aaaaargh!" I threw my bag against the wall and let out another scream. Right now, there was nothing I wanted more than someone else in the warship except for these terrible drones. With time, I started believing that they indeed were mindless creatures. I started hating them as much as Breakdown did.

With the back of my hand, I wiped away the last wave of tears and sniffled. "Fuck.", I whispered as I saw the mascara on my hand. I must look like a psychopathic clown. I was still sobbing, even after what appeared to be three hours. It had felt much longer though.

My stomach reported again that it was completely empty. Since yesterday evening! I hadn't heard anything of the Decepticons since I had arrived here and it tore me apart! I was hungry, depressive, worried and tired! But I couldn't eat something here because there was no food and I couldn't get my depressions gone without stopping my worries and getting my stomach silent! And while my stomach wouldn't get silent, I could impossibly sleep!

With a loud growl I let myself fall back on the hard metal. "Ouch."

_**Knock Out's POV**_

It was like a déjà vu as I saw all the bodies on this bloody ground. Only that this time, the Autobots fought back. I didn't have to worry anymore. A drone had gotten Nightbird back to the base safely, as Starscream had reported Megatron. By now, we weren't all on the place in front of the base anymore. The Autobots had pathetically tried to evacuate the remaining humans, which had been very few. Unfortunately, none of us had thought about the possibility that Samuel James Witwicky could have been inside the Autobot base today. Megatron hadn't been seen for about one and a half earth hours. Apparently, he was chasing the scout Bumblebee who had been the boy's guardian since the first time we had noticed him.

"For Primus... Hey! Watch the paint!" A bullet, from Optimus Primes legendary medic, Ratchet, flashed through the air in half a nano second and streaked my chest armour. I took the energon prod and rammed it into the neck of this scientist, Wheeljack. For a few seconds, the light armoured Autobot had convulsions until he finally fell to the ground.

_'Unconscious or dead? I don't know. Doesn't matter. Next one.'_, my processor speed on and there was nothing I could do against it. It knew better what to do, than I did. Without thinking about it, I ran across the battlefield, getting back the prod as the silent noise of metal against metal made my head vibrate for a nano click.

"Last words, Con?" I felt the heat as the canon was loaded directly at my helmet and then I heard the shot, followed by a deafening loud impact. "Not yet!", Breakdown yelled as he lifted his hammer and let it fall down onto Ironhide's head. But Ironhide rolled to the other side and caused Breakdown to fall off his chest.

My hand transformed into a saw blade and I came running towards the Autobot colossus. He prepared to take on me and Breakdown at once, who came at him from the other side. "Ya mine Decepticreep!" a voice behind me suddenly yelled and a silver blur knocked me over. I rolled over my shoulder and threw the invader against a wall to knock him out. Now, that I could see his face, I could also tell who he was. "First lieutenant Jazz."

The answer was a moan as he sat up and held his head. "Man, Con! Good one." I let the energon prod whirl around in my hand. "It's been a pleasure."

Breakdown was busy with getting clubbed to scrap metal by the Autobot colossus, so I decided to take on the little blur. "Come to papa." I murmured and headed towards the First lieutenant, my energon prod ready for use.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

My stomach let out another growl. Frag! I was so darn hungry! I couldn't survive another second without eating something. My arms were looped around my belly and I pulled my knees up to my chin, so that it could rest there. I was nearly falling unconscious. I really wasn't used to this! Where for Primus sake was Knock Out?

After what felt like another agonizing hour, I slowly, still worrying about me falling unconscious, hopped off the berth and tiptoed out of my room. My high-heels were left back in my quarters, so that I walked barefoot. Not a good thing if what you are walking on is ice cold metal.

As I turned around the next corner, a question popped up inside my head; '_Where the heck am I going to get human food inside the Decepticon warship?'_

I knew I was stupid, dumb and everything else you could call someone with the idea I had right now. Even I was aware that it was the most stupid and idiotic thing I have ever even thought of. I was becoming one of those mindless creatures who only lived for the filling of their stomachs. My intellect yelled at me with a colourful vocabulary similar to Knock Out's, but my stomach said: _Why the pit not?_

The intelligent, graceful and prudent Decepticon I'd one day be didn't even consider the idea. Unfortunately, there was still some time to come until I'd be that Decepticon. Some time and some horrible experiences. But my stomach decided to follow the idea and led me to the energon storage room. As weak as my will was, I followed.

I had to hide as a patrolling drone came and I could slap myself afterwards as I hadn't noticed that most of the ship's crew was back. But unfortunately, I noticed that after my incredibly stupid decision.

The room was huge. An impressively high pillar stood in the middle of it. Many energon lines were spread over the walls and crawled up them like worms. Only little light made the things inside the room visible and most of it came from the glowing energon as it burned in the ship. So apparently was also the tank of the warship. I believe a few drones should actually be guarding it, shouldn't they? Wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

Determined as I was, I walked over to the many giant cubes placed on each other like high towers. The ones across the room were all in some sort of weird metal shell. I assumed they were the fuel for the vessel. One cube had approximately the height of me. At least my head reached over them, because the ones I was hiding behind were the normal energon cubes the Decepticons always took for refuelling themselves. Hopefully, the one in front of me wasn't one of those high-grade ones Breakdown always took when he had observation duty. He said they kept the boredom away.

Another growl and my hand wandered to my stomach. I was sooo hungry! Without thinking, I followed my actual plan, placed my lips on one of the cubes rim and drank. The blue liquid flew down my throat and sent shivers through my whole body. The hunger immediately disappeared, but I kept drinking until a thought came to my mind. Energon was pure energy! Why didn't I think of this before?! Was I going to die now?

I spat out the rest of the energon that was left in my mouth and let go of the cube. I was so stupid! Why was I so stupid?!

Again, black dots appeared in front of my sight and within a few seconds, I started freezing. A touch to my cheek with my right hand and I knew, that I didn't only feel cold; I _was _cold. Ice cold.

A panicked whimper escaped my throat and my hands clung around my stomach. "Knock Out?" I asked with an incredibly high pitched voice. If anyone could help me now, than it was him. Bad thing he wasn't aboard the ship.

One hand still pressed on my stomach and with bare feet, carefully searching their way over the ground, I slowly got out of the energon storage room. My skin had already turned pale and I knew that there was something definitely not alright with me. The mean part of my mind said sarcastically _'Just don't walk into the light over there.' _I wanted to stab it for that.

My legs started to go week and I had to hold onto the wall with one hand, so that I wouldn't fall down. A quick look back. Wow. Already five meters in fifteen minutes. A new record.

Suddenly, a high tone hollered through the whole warship. The alarm. Intruders. Now. While I couldn't even run away!

I looked around frantically. Should I just go back? But the door closed! And I won't get far enough back so that it opens!

_'Think! Think! Where can you hide?!' _My mind didn't want to work. My head seemed to blow and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to sleep. To my right, there was a cabinet like metal box which might reach to Knock Outs waist. I could hide in its shadows!

_**Ratchet's POV, sometime earlier**_

**Ratchet-::Optimus! The Decepticons took a prisoner!::**

The scalpel attached to my arm sliced yet another drone into half.

**Optimus Prime-::Who did they take?::**

**Ratchet-::A human female.::**

I could remember her face, filled with fear and panic when she had looked at me. The drone had probably been squeezing her to death, but if she had survived, there was no doubt I had to help her.

**Optimus Prime-::Understood. Autobots! All of you, who have a Decepticon groundbridge in sight, retrieve the human prisoner! At all cost! We cannot allow any other human casualties!::**

And as if it had only waited for these words, a groundbridge turned up, no fifteen meters away from me. Another squadron of drones came out and they didn't know what hit them as I simply drove through them and inside the bridge. A few shots followed me, but nothing really hit me.

**Ratchet-::I am inside the base!::**

Within my transformation, my scalpel punctured the spark of the bridge operator and I wasn't even in my robot mode as I already transformed again and sped out with screaming tires. The alarm got set off immediately. How, didn't bother me.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I would have to cross the path to get into those shadows. Therefore, I'd have to leave the wall, and I was pretty sure I'd have to crawl the way if I did that. But otherwise I wouldn't even stand a single chance if the intruder came this way. I just had to risk it.

With shivering fingers and weak legs, I shuffled over to the shades. Both hands wrapped around my stomach as it was beginning to hurt really badly. '_Only five meters! Four! Three! Three and a half! My legs hurt, why do my legs have to hurt like this!' _I fell onto one knee as I couldn't hold myself straight any longer. I was so weak! Why did I have to be human? Since when was Primus so cruel to me?

Suddenly, I heard tires protesting against the harsh changes of direction as if there was a chase. From the other direction, a troop of about ten Drones came running towards the noise. I knew they saw me, because they all avoided stepping on me with a nearly pathetic accuracy. But none of them stopped for me. '_Steve! No, stay!' _I wanted to scream for them, shout and make the whole warship notice me, but I was too weak. I was too tired and with time, every single inch of my body started hurting.

They came around the edge and I heard the sound of someone transform. All drones unlocked their weapons and started shooting. But I knew that none of them would last for longer than two minutes. _'He's coming!'_

I forced my legs to stand up while the panic sent adrenalin through my system, obfuscating the pain, and I tried so desperately to reach the shadows, as I heard the sounds of metal on metal. By far too close. One after another, all drones fell to the ground and I could hear the loud footsteps coming closer.

It made no sense, the shadow was too far away and I was too tired. I simply turned around with from fear widened eyes, just to stare into Ratchet's determined and furious ones. For a second I was glad. He was a medic. He could help me! Then I got reminded to how he had killed the drone and my breath went faster. He was a torture specialist and I'd die.

Finally, a scream managed to escape my throat, as the tall bot grabbed me and transformed with me within a single second. This would be it. This would be how I'd die.

_**Ratchet's POV**_

I ran around the next corner and there she was, half standing half bowing, her arms desperately wrapped around her abdomen, a panicked expression on her face. She was pale. Paler than before and she appeared to be in pain. What could they have done to her?!

Quickly, I scooped the poor thing up and transformed, strapping her seat belt tight. She was frightened, no doubt, but that was exactly why I was concerned. She might probably try to jump out of me, thinking I was a Decepticon. Humans in panic were most of the time of unsound mind. I locked the doors and headed towards the bridge.

**Sideswipe-::Ratchet? I'm in! Where are you?::**

**Ratchet-::I'm on my way to the groundbridge! Hold it open! I have the female!::**

But then, I heard another car, coming from behind. A quick look into my rear-view mirror told me who it was. The blue Decepticon colossus. Breakdown. He transformed and already had his hammer out.

**Ratchet-::Strike that! I need back-up!::**

**Sideswipe-::Already there.::**

And for probably the first time in my live, I felt happy about the annoying twin being there. He took on Breakdown, so I wouldn't have to worry about him and could concentrate on the human inside me. I flew a quick scan over her, but I didn't expect her reaction. She started struggling and hammered her fists against the door, screaming with a rough voice. Her beats weren't hard, which worried me. She must have gone through a lot. They probably poisoned her.

The results from the scan proofed my idea. They _did _poison her. With energon. I'd have to get her to my medical bay immediately, though I didn't know how to help her. I'd have to improvise.

Suddenly, a Cybercat rammed me from the side. The female screamed again and threw herself against the door. I didn't say anything. It'd simply frighten her even more. Instead, I transformed, let her fly through the air for short, and threw the Cybercat against the wall, and then caught the female again and transformed into my alt mode, just in time to exit through the still open groundbridge. The previous battle was obviously over, as I left it and I saw the others waiting for us. Sideswipe came shortly after me and I knew the girl wouldn't be able to stand without help. I strapped her seat belt tighter and injected something into her arm, which would prevent her systems from crashing.

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I struggled, screamed, bit the seat belts and tried everything in my might to escape this death-trap called Ratchet, but I just was too weak. My eyes widened in horror as the seat belts got strapped around me even tighter and it started to get difficult to breathe. Then, I felt a slight pain in my arm, as if something had bit me. A quick glance to the side and I saw the needle with the limpid liquid inside, which slowly disappeared in my circulatory system.

_'He poisoned me!' _a voice screamed inside my head. I began to hyperventilate and heard my small high screams as if I was underwater. My heart began to beat faster and I clenched my hands to fists as I tried to stay calm. I would die, no doubt. But I would die with honour and courage, unlike this traitor Wheelie who'd be begging for mercy as soon as my glorious Lord and Master found him. Then they'd all see that I was worth being one of them. And Knock Out would be proud.

As unexpected as it was, the Autobot who held me prisoner suddenly loosened his grip on me and transformed, so that I was in the palm of his hand. So that I could see who was standing in front of us.

The monster who had killed Soundwave.

I couldn't move. I simply stared into his optics as he turned towards me. He held no weapon, but his battle mask still covered his mouth. He came a step closer and I stood up, though I was still on the medic's hand and it was a bit difficult. But as I stood and his face got closer to me, battle mask still on, I noticed that there was no one else. No human, no public. I'd die. Right here, right now.

So I took my final breath and did what the medic's hand only allowed me once; to take a step towards the Prime. Whatever the Autobot medic had given me, it had made me a bit stronger, though I still felt weak, but at least my legs were able to carry me right now.

Something inside me was cheering, because I was here, staring the one directly in the optics who had killed my home planet and somehow, I wasn't the least afraid of him. Not right now. Death felt so unreal while you stood in front of the one who'd cause it. While you could see your face mirroring in his optics and knew he could see his in yours. I'd die in honour, as the first human Decepticon. As a loyal Decepticon. As the many warriors that had fallen in this war. And maybe, this would give me a place in the Well. Maybe, an organic creature who felt more like a cybertronian than like a human would get a place in the Well. And the most reassuring thought about this was I'd never be alone in there. Soundwave would be waiting for me.

_**Knock Out's POV, somewhere in the City**_

_'Ohhh! I'm a horrible creator! Nightbird must be starving to death right now!' _one voice in my head yelled at the other, though all of them had the same opinion.

My hologram already got out the credit card with which I always paid. It actually was a pretty useful little thing. I had managed to install a virus which could hack into the system and debit from the account which was used by the person who wanted the money from me, so that I didn't have to pay anything. It was a clever thing, because it couldn't be tracked or even really noticed by the system. It was as if I'd never been there.

I drove onto the parking lot of a sushi restaurant and prayed they'd let me take something with me. Nightbird loved sushi, but the town she lived in, hadn't really got a good restaurant where it was sold. This one appeared to be quite good, regarding the many humans that were eating here.

I bought her a big range of different sorts. Some of which I already knew she loved, some which I'd never heard from, but looked pretty good. I thanked the women at the cash register with a smile and left, all thoughts turning about my little sparkling, which was suffering right now.

I laid the food on the passenger seat and drove at full speed towards where the groundbridge would come up in a few minutes, suddenly remembering, how it had already been like this for so many times, only that I had already had the food, but she just hadn't wanted it.

_Flashback_

"_Come on, Nightbird!"_

_I tried pathetically to place the spoon with the disgusting looking mush on it into her mouth, but she just wouldn't stop crying. Hannah and her husband weren't there and it was up to me to get my little plague refuelled. Or _'stuffed' _as Hannah had told me. The little red head was hungry, I didn't doubt that. She was crying like she'd never been before. Her little fists hammered on the table and I had to smirk at the sight of her very few, very tiny teeth. Just everything on her was so tiny!_

_One more try and the spoon was thrown onto the ground._

"_Sweetspark, when you're so hungry, then why don't you just eat this stuff?!"_

_She cried even louder and I rubbed my head with one hand. I couldn't blame her. This stuff looked disgusting. I wouldn't refuel with that either._

"_Nooo! Please?" Wow. I was starting to beg a sparkling. Wait, humans had the World Wide Web. Probably that could help me!_

_Yes, I was googling again, but hey, I had no idea how to help myself otherwise. Unfortunately, I had to admit what I found wasn't really helpful. The only option I found which I might be trying, was cooking. Now was the only question, how to cook?_

_I believe this was the day that I lost my grandeur. A Decepticon in a human kitchen trying to make human food. Breakdown would die from laughter if he found out about this. And I would to one hundred percent not be the one to revive him!_

_(-)_

_Three hours! Three fragging hours I had tried to make something eatable for a sparkling. The kitchen looked... like my med bay did after Breakdown had been lobbing in it. It was a complete mess. Carefully, I carried the result of my cooking session over to the obviously annoyed little sparkling. She sniffed two times and turned her head to the side as if the smell was unbearable._

"_Come on, sweetspark. At least a taste?"_

_I gently pushed another spoonful of the mush into her mouth and I guess I have never felt so proud of myself before, as she started giggling and stretching her hand out to the rest. She liked it!_

"_Yes! And the winner for the most creative use of disgusting human food is... Knock Out!" She cheerfully clapped her hands at my joy and I started laughing and placed my lips on her cheek. My sparkling. My little sparkling._

_Flashback ends_

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I lifted my chin and stood straight, just as Knock Out had taught me. They could do to me what they wanted, I wouldn't tell them anything. The Prime now stood directly in front of me, and the medic lifted his hand a bit, so that I was on optic to optic level with him.

His battle mask moved slightly as if he was opening his mouth to say something, when the sound of a jet engine was heard.

It was fast, nearly too fast for me to get what was happening. The Autobots couldn't do anything against it, as the silver cybertronian jet came at them. My eyes widened as I saw my master come directly towards me. There wasn't even enough time to think as he transformed within his flight, grabbed me directly out of the medic's hand, didn't even waste a look at the Prime, transformed again and flew away.

Yes, I was rescued by my very Master. And now, I was inside him, seeing, how the Autobots watched us with baffled faces and then immediately got out their weapons. I thanked Primus that I had every single muscle under control as Ironhide fired and my leader dodged. I was able to hold my body so, that I touched as little of him as possible. It was one of the most awkward situations one could ever get in. And if that wasn't enough, my stomach announced itself. Not visible from the outside, but I felt how I got sick. _'NOOO!' _everything inside me screamed. Not inside _him_! I pressed my hands on my belly and tried to breathe calmly. Primus apparently loved me, because the groundbridge finally opened and Lord Megatron landed, so that I could get out.

Being polite, I muttered a small "Thank you, master." He simply nodded and left. I could kiss Ratchet for whatever he gave me so that I could walk again. Better, I could run, because I absolutely didn't want to puke in front of the bridge operator.

Only one question, where should I?

Both hands pressed onto my mouth, I ran down the allies, until I found what I needed most. The rubbish chutes. Well, that was what I called them. I had no idea what they were really called. Only that the empty energon cubes got in there. They probably just got thrown out the ship, this way. Oh well, the poor people who stood under us now.

I noisily heaved into the chutes and my whole body arched under the cramps. Don't ask me how I could throw up, I hadn't eaten anything after all, but when I opened my eyes, I saw this disgusting mixture of green and blue. It made the next wave come out of my body.

After a few minutes, my whole body was shivering and I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to take this. There was not much energon left to leave me body on this way, so the only thing that came out was bile. My throat burned and this bad hunger had returned. My body went crazy.

Suddenly, I got scooped up and a tired glance to my rescuer told me who it was. Knock Out. He hurried over to the med-bay where he laid me onto his desk and placed an empty energon cube in front of me, just in time as I had to throw up again. His metal fingers gently held my hair out of my face and stroke over my back as a scan flew over me. It was comforting.

"You've been poisoned with energon." he pressed out, obviously not liking the idea.

"Oh, really?" I hissed sarcastically. I hadn't got much more time to say anything else. I felt a bit guilty. It wasn't his fault that I was so stupid, was it?

The door opened and Breakdown started to speak "Is she alrigh-" he got interrupted by me as I threw up again. Oh Primus please kill me now!

Knock Out left me alone for a second and I heard the door closing and getting locked. Then another scan, a deeper one. I had an odd taste on my tongue... blood! I was puking blood! I silently screamed at that realization. Knock Out rubbed my back in an attempt to calm me down as I hyperventilated again.

"Am I gonna die?" I whispered.

"Not as long as I'm here." he answered between bared teeth.

_(-)_

Three hours. Three exhausting, painful, sick hours of punishment for whatever I had done wrong. Okay, I knew exactly what I had done wrong. Who was so stupid and drank energon without being a cybertronian? Only I.

Now, I was lying on the examination berth and stared at the wall, trying to ignore my everywhere hurting body. My throat was sore and I couldn't talk out of some unknown reasons. The screen next to me, showed my heart frequency and something else... I guessed it had something to do with the energon inside me. Knock Out had said I was still poisoned, my body was weak and I should rest. He was examining the screen and eagerly thinking about something while giving me a glance every five seconds.

"Hmm... interesting." he mumbled. I was too weak to lift my head and find out what was so interesting about my vitals, I was too tired to ask and I just wanted to sleep.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

**Knock Out-::Soundwave, send Ravage to the medical bay.::**

It didn't take the Cybercat longer than ten seconds to come rushing into the med-bay and jumping onto the examination berth. Concerned, he looked into the eyes of this pale and weak creature that had once been his vivacious sister.

"Keep an eye on her while I am talking to Lord Megatron, understood?" I commanded harshly and left the room. No matter who would enter the medical bay now, not even the Prime himself would survive Ravages attack if he thinks his sister is in danger.

I didn't have to walk all the way to the command centre; Lord Megatron already waited in front of the med-bay. "How is her condition, Knock Out?" Surprise, surprise! The Decepticon Master actually cared!

"It appears that the Autobots poisoned her with energon. But extremely well planned. I assume they were searching for a way to make the boy stronger."

Megatron frowned. "Did they?"

I nodded. "I believe they have planned this from the beginning on. It is an ingenious formula with which they have managed to get the exactly right amount of energon into her body, so that she will neither die from it, nor simply decompose it. It is impressive, because the amount of energon is not allowed to be one drop less or one drop more than her body can handle. It has to be matched to the body size, the gender and the mental strength of the organism. A truly impressive formula. I wonder how they got the data they needed from her."

"Will she suffer from any permanent damage?"

"No. At least not as far as I know. I still am not quite sure whether the amount of energon in her body is harmful."

"Is there a possibility of her termination by the energon infection?"

"NO!" Lord Megatron gave me a surprised look and I quickly tore myself together. "I mean that would be rather unlikely, Master. Nightbird is strong and..."

"I understand your relationship to the human, Knock Out. Under normal circumstances, such a relationship wouldn't be tolerated within our ranks, but this experiment gets more and more interesting with time. I'd love to see what humans are capable of if they are getting educated by Decepticons. Do everything in your might to help her, doctor. It would be such a waste." And with these words he turned around and left.

I walked back into the med-bay, unaware of what I would find in there. A growl welcomed me as I entered and I saw Ravage lying on the examination berth with Nightbird cuddled up against his body, sleeping like a sparkling. Her head was laid exactly where his spark chamber was, so that she could hear its beat. Those sounds always calmed sparklings down and helped them falling asleep. As silent as possible and with a smile on my face, I left the room. Now, we definitely had Soundwave on our side.

_**Nightbird's POV, the next day**_

I woke up as I felt something hot running down my throat. Was Knock Out giving me something to drink? I opened my eyes. No.

I turned my head to the side and moaned in pain. The movement hurt so badly! It was as if it sent flames down my spine. I froze, trying to move as little as possible. "Knock Out?" I whispered. Something behind me moved and Ravage appeared over me. "Get Knock Out. Please." I whimpered as another wave of flames shot through my body, caused by Ravage standing up and letting me fall onto the examination berth. He gracefully jumped off the berth and disappeared.

It took them even more than twenty painful seconds. Even breathing started to make my body burn. Not my whole body, but my nerves. I decided to stop breathing for as long as possible and close my eyes. It helped a bit, until... "NIGHTBIRD!"

I jumped up and immediately regretted it. A slight scream and my whole body cramped. I felt the scan, not a tingle but a burn as it got deep into my skin, under my flesh and tortured my bones.

"Ravage, out of here. Now!" he commanded. Of course the Cybercat immediately obeyed and I was a bit glad about that. I didn't want anyone else to see me like this. Especially not Sound...wave. Soundwave. How Ravage must feel without his master. A tear rolled down my cheek, though the cramps were already over.

"Birdie? Can you hear me?" he asked, and I heard the slight panic in his voice. I nodded. Talking was impossible while I was thinking about Soundwave.

"Are you in pain?" Hmmm... Psychical or physical? Both. I nodded again.

I felt a needle in my arm and a few seconds later, the fire went numb. Numb, but it didn't really disappear. "Better?" I nodded, but my tears were still flowing. "Where does it hurt?"

I opened my eyes and saw his face only inches away from me. How odd. I hadn't felt the scans he was running over me all the time. "Soundwave.", I whispered. He frowned, apparently not understanding a word. "Excuse me?"

My tears started flowing again. "Do you want me to get him here?" he asked, ready to do so. Now I frowned. "He's not..."

"Not what?" Knock Out asked softly.

"Offline?" I whispered, my brain repeating the scene of the Prime's blade in his spark chamber.

Now, Knock Out laughed. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds, sweetspark? Yes, he was indeed heavily injured by the Prime, but not offlined. He got out of my med-bay after fifteen minutes. Armour replacing doesn't take that long, you know?"

I still watched him baffled. Soundwave was alive? He'd survived the attack of this monster? Then, I started to burst out laughing and crying at the same time. The flames returned and I tried pathetically to keep still, but it just wouldn't work. Joy and pain crossed themselves and laughter was crossed with pain filled screams. Knock Out watched me helplessly as I was suffering from my laughter. Unfortunately, it took me many minutes to stop and the painkillers hadn't survived that.

I started to bend and clutched my chest as the pain started within my stomach and ate its way to my heart. It took hours and reached my limbs and abdomen, but the worst was, as it came to my brain. No matter how many pain killers Knock Out gave me, it wouldn't stop. It simply got worse and I couldn't even think about how my screams were probably echoing through the whole warship. Not that it would disturb anyone. It was probably like music for them. Mostly for Airachnid. Would she also enjoy it if she knew that they were my screams? I bet she knew.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

I was ingenious. I was determined. I was cruel. And I had no idea what to do.

My little creation was writhing from agony and I couldn't help her. Those thousands of years in which I had studied medicine on Cybertron, about twenty earth years that I had studied the human medicine and I had absolutely no clue what was happening to her right now. I knew that it was the energon that was doing this to her, but I didn't know if it was affecting her or if her body was simply fighting it... in a pretty unusual way.

But I knew that the fight was, finally, at its end. She was desperately holding her head and trying to get rid of the pain. Her nails had torn her skin open at some spots and she was bleeding from them.

I was running another scan over her, this time a much deeper one, and noticed something strange. The energon ratings were higher than before, but I knew now Nightbird would survive. What did that mean?

Suddenly, she calmed down, stopped screaming and her hands weakly fell off her head. She was breathing heavily and before I could even ask about her condition, she had already fallen asleep. Her hair was all messy and the sweat on her face told me that her temperature was rising rapidly, but fortunately she wasn't in any pain anymore.

With a relieved smile on my face, I stroke a red streak of hair out of her face. Then, I told Soundwave over the com-link to send Ravage again. I knew she could sleep much better with him on her side. He was in many ways her brother after all.

While Ravage came over, I took a look at the deeper scans and the energon ratings. Now, I finally noticed something on the scans. I had concentrated on the ratings too much, to see what the energon had done to her vital organs. The most surprising and impressive thing was, that her heart appeared to get some sort of... support from a..._spark? Nightbird had a spark?!_

I stared at the screen in disbelief. How could that be? Was it even possible in any way? How could a heart exist _inside _a spark? What could have created this spark? How could it exist around a heart? What affects would it have on her?

Then I noticed something else. The spark appeared to not only support the heart, but also make it dependent on it. It was pumping energon through the body in a perfect harmony with the heart, because it caused the heart to beat by _its _beating. Blood _and _energon flowed through her veins. How was that possible?

Then, right after that shock, another one followed. Her abdomen. It was like... how to explain it? It was like dead. Burned to its destruction. I was suddenly overwhelmed by sadness. Not just sadness, I was depressed. _'Why, Knock Out? Did you really hope to one day become a grand creator?' _the cruel voice inside my head came back again. My answer shocked me. _'Yes!' _I screamed back. _'Yes, I had wished for it more than anything else! To one day hold a creature in my arms which is even tinier than she has been. To get another chance of raising a sparkling and seeing the innocence this war needs so much. Probably, one day we might have been in the ability to understand what we are doing to our following generations then!' _The other voice fell silent and I held onto the wall as I tried my best to not sink to my knees.

_'Stop with those pathetic thoughts! Decepticons do not care about family! They live for themselves and their duty of destruction and determination!'_

"Then, what makes you think I am a Decepticon?" I whispered as an answer and a question at the same time. There were moments like this that I could swear; Primus had actually wanted me to choose differently.

* * *

><p>Very well. So for all of you guys who made it, let me tell ya it was pretty difficult to write...<p>

Anyways, she's _no _techno organic. There's nothing techno on her, guys! She's got a spark but is not going to be some sort of super hero because of that! She's just gonna get some more space for soma more troubles. ;)

Oh and I'm making some sort of Christmas countdown for you guys! There's gonna be a TFP story with four parts which will be updated weekly on every Sunday ;)

Now that we had such a bad ending for TFP, I thought ya guys might need something to get through the break. They better hurry, I can't stand it to see that OP's dead... Well at least it was a pretty epic ending. United we stand, devided they fall. One of the best Starscream quotes ever.

What do you guys think is going to happen in 'Beast Hunters'?

Please R&R

Until all are one!


	13. Introductions

**GUYZ! I'm alive!**

**Yeah, have been gone for quite a while, haven't I? Oh well, anyways here's the next chapter.**

**I don't own transformers.**

**And I certainly don't own the quote from Exodus which will be marked with a ***

**(you can find it in the book 'Transformers: Exodus' on page 58 )**

**Have fun reading! And I would certainly don't mind getting to read some new Reviews ;)**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Introductions<strong>_

_**Nightbird's POV**_

This was once more the point in sleep when you know you're awake and simply want to go back to sleep but no matter how hard you try, you just can't! I growled as I realized that, turning to face the other side in a desperate attempt to gain some more rest, I was failing miserably as I fell screeching off the berth.

It wasn't that far of a fall, but still the impact with the metal ground hurt a bit. Especially because my limbs were already numb and sore. I had problems with standing up, but once I was awake there was no way I could go to sleep again. After several pitiful attempts, I finally managed to steady myself by leaning heavily against the wall, though my quivering legs still felt as if they were about to give in. Just like my arms and my head. Curse you, frail human body! I felt weak, nearly as weak as...

Then everything came back. The attack at the base. My escape attempt. The stupid idea of drinking Energon and then the Autobot's first medical officer Ratchet invading the base and kidnapping me. And if that hadn't been enough, Megatron had come saving me and I had gotten as sick as I'd never been before.

Although I had expected my body to have regained some strength, my legs gave in nevertheless and I collapsed onto the floor. It had been a horrible day alright. Or days. Wait, how long had that taken? How long had I been asleep? The taste in my mouth told me that it had been a pretty long time. Certainly more than I usually slept.

My stomach started to growl and I pressed my fists onto it. The damn hunger came back, but this time I wouldn't be as stupid as... yesterday? Blast it, I had to find out what the date was. Fortunately this time Knock Out would be around and protect me from my stupidity. Just like he'd always protect me, no matter what.

I remained on the ground and closed my eyes, pressing my cheek against the cold metal. It felt good; calming, but the hunger wouldn't let me remain like this for too long. I'd have to get out somehow and find Knock Out.

With shaking legs, I stood up and steadied myself against the wall until I found my balance and slowly shuffled out of the room. It had been simple quarters, no personal stuff, so it wasn't from anyone of the higher ranked Cons, though they didn't have much personal stuff anyways. Couldn't be one of the Drones either, because they all shared quarters with twelve berths and more. It might have been one of the extra quarters, to provide in case other Decepticons arrived. The warship was full of those. One of my hands was pressed against my stomach. I swear, I'd literally never felt that empty before.

I had to walk for a while until I finally regained my orientation and could tell where in the warship I was. A few meters down that corridor and then right, there would be the command centre. That wasn't far from the med-bay. I didn't pass any drones on my slow walk there, how odd. They normally always patrolled the corridor adjacent to the command center, as it was one of the most important rooms here.

When I was only a few doors away from the med-bay at the end of the corridor, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. Heavy footsteps. I didn't have the time to turn around as I already heard them stop.

"Nightbird!" he exclaimed and then noisily rushed over to me, scooping me up with utmost care. Well, at least utmost for him.

"Last time I saw you, you looked like you were about to offline!", he stated and I turned around to see his red optics staring at me, happy as if Megatron himself had told him he was proud of him. "Are you alright?"

I smirked; glad he couldn't hear my stomach growl, 'cause that would certainly have freaked him out. Organic noises still startled him. He was just as big as he was cute. "Sure. Where's Knock Out?"

Breakdown continued walking forward towards the med-bay. "Where he's most of the time when he's not with you.", he said and the door hissed open, revealing none other than my creator hanging over a pile of datapads and muttering some strange science stuff in cybertronian of which I could understand the words he used, but not the context. To my defense, the stuff he was talking about was utterly complicated and Breakdown didn't understand it either!

"Hey, KO. I guess you forgot something.", Breakdown stated with a smile, quite aware that his partner wouldn't catch the right meaning and as always think his partner was trying to annoy him and keep him from working.

"No I did not! I calculated all variables, checked the ratings and fixed the pressure balance, thus I am fairly certain I did not forget anything!", he replied harshly, through gritted teeth. His fingers still rushed in an abnormally graceful way – the Knock Out way – over the datapads, optics hectically checking all the information he entered.

"What in the pits of Kaon are you talking about?" I was kind of worried about him. He looked up and I could see the fatigue in his face. Although his uneasiness and the signs of stress nearly vanished as his optics brightened at the sight of me. Yay!

"Did I not tell you for over a thousand times not to swear?" he mumbled while taking me of Breakdowns hand. I nodded. No matter if right or wrong, don't mess with Knock Out if he didn't get to get his beauty sleep. He's nearly as bad as Airachnid then. But on the contrary to her, he actually doesn't need it...

"So, what's with all that stuff on your table? If you have to work I'll just go back to where I came from and..." I started, not really meaning what I said, but fortunately he had already interrupted me.

"Nah, it's nothing important. I'll do it later... Let's just give you a checkup. I want to be sure that your systems are all still working properly." he mumbled, walking over to the berth and laid me down on it. I hated this berth sooo much! It gave me ginormous inferiority complexes. This thing was like three-hundred times bigger than me! Why did everything have to be so giant? Or better, why did I have to be so pathetically tiny?

Breakdown shrugged and left as Knock Out completely ignored him for the next few minutes and I was so not in the mood for having a little chat with him. 'Little chats' with Breakdown normally insisted in him talking about his previous battle with either the Autobots, or the Drones, while Airachnid had watched him and I would be just sitting there, pretending to listen. It was too cute. He really wanted to impress her... well that was as long as she didn't annoy him with talking too much. Granted, she was creepier when she talked than when she just stood there and looked gorgeous. I wonder if that's why Megatron tolerates so many of her torture experiments with the Drones...

"Sweetspark, I gotta talk to you."

Knock Out tore me out of my thoughts and I jumped in surprise when his face suddenly appeared right in front of me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, giving me a frown. Boy will I be jealous the day Airachnid finally gets a crush on Knock. Seriously, she may not be his type, but I really have absolutely no idea whose type he isn't. Poor Airachnid. She won't survive that day. No one's ever gonna steal me my daddy! Though I'd like her to finally find out how she'd fit with Breakdown.

"Hello? Nemesis to Nightbird, you alright?" he asked once more, now amusement resonating in his voice. I looked up at him and grinned, but my grin quickly turned into a grimace as I saw what he had just laid down next to me. I hastily sat up, leaning myself away from him.

"I don't know what you are planning to do with me, but I already know I don't like it." I exclaimed, squinting at the needles. Those were obviously reusable syringes, made out of hard metal and thick glass. I shivered.

"Oh come on, sweetspark. It's not like you're afraid of such, is it?" I squirmed on my place on the berth. Ridiculous. I knew he wouldn't harm me with these. He was my daddy after all.

"Yeah, but not being afraid of them doesn't exactly mean I love them."

He laughed and took one of the syringes, turning around, doing something with it. I leaned over slightly to the side, trying to catch a glimpse at what Knock Out was doing. Wasn't necessary, though. He already turned around. When he laid it next to me again, it was filled with a thick blue substance.

"Energon?"

He nodded. Then he kneeled down in front of me, so that we were on optic-to-eye level.

"Sweetspark I gotta explain something to you." he started. I had absolutely no clue where this was going, so I motioned for him to continue with a wave of my hand.

"The Energon you got infected with seems to have modified your system."

"Seriously now. Knock Out; am I dying?" I interrupted him, seeing the uneasiness return to his face.

"Primus, no! How did you come up with that?" Was it only me or did that giggle sound hysterical?

"J-just look at how you behave! I mean you look like you haven't recharged for vorns! You flinch at the slightest noises and act like you're being haunted! It just doesn't suit you! That's not you! What happened?"

"The whole thing with you just... caught me a bit off guard, that's all." After all these years, in which he had been the only person I really loved and trusted, he still thought he could fool me? Was he so desperate at hiding something from me? Why? Why would my daddy lie to me?

"Cybertronians can get a shock? Oh Daddy, I'm so sorry! I never meant to frighten you!" I decided it was best to pull along. Trusting him was always a good idea. At least it calmed me, because he always managed to make the world look so harmless. On the other hand, if one was against him, the world could not look any colder.

He sighed, giving me a smile. I didn't know what to say to this. Knock Out was an ingenious actor. He could do anything if he desired, but I could see that something still bothered him. Something he wouldn't even tell his own daughter.

It was an odd feeling to know he was lying to me. I did not like it at all. I preferred the looks he gave me when I did something he considered great for my age. When he was nearly bursting with pride. Or when he picked me up from school and I could see this huge smile on his face, telling me I belonged to him. But it still felt best to see his care and anxiety for me. Those looks made me feel safe and sound.

* * *

><p><em><span>Flashback<span>_

I coughed, bending forward at the sharp pain dashing through my throat. Couldn't see the blur as it came rushing towards me, but almost immediately daddy held the glass with water in front of my face, smiling at me comforting. I took it and drank, without being bothered by him still holding it as if I wasn't old enough to do it by myself.

Cuddling back down into my bed, I looked up at him and hypnotized his red hair. I wanted it to fall onto his forehead. I liked it when he got annoyed by that and constantly drove his hand through his hair. To his dismay he couldn't cut his holograms hair. He'd told me it would just grow back again in a few seconds.

I smiled up at him again and he responded with a smirk, leaned over and kissed my cheek. It felt funny and I had to giggle. Then he kissed me again on the forehead and on the nose and the stomach, making loud kissing and barking noises. I kicked and rolled around while cackling until I got dizzy and daddy stopped.

He reached out behind him and held up Mr. Cuddles, making him move while he let him talk in a deep voice.

"So, Ms. Nightbird, aren't we a little tired yet?" he asked for the quadrillionth time this evening and though I was, I refused to tell him.

"NO!" I shouted and hid myself under the blanket, still giggling. Until I heard a sigh and the blanket got pulled back, revealing daddy's serious-face.

"Markus, if you plan on staying another night I can make the guest room ready for you. You don't have to stay with her in the same room all day. She's nearly seven, she'll live."

I could watch how daddy's hand slowly clenched to a fist until his knucklebones turned white and he roughly replied through gritted teeth "No, thank you, Hannah. I prefer staying with her as long as she needs me in here."

"It's been more than eight hours already. Don't you think she got enough attention? We don't need her to be all fastidious when she's more grown."

Daddy let out a loud growl and I decided it would be best to go to sleep. I didn't like it when daddy's eyes started to flash a dark red. It made me get nightmares from a screaming woman...

* * *

><p><em><span>Flashback ends<span>_

"Alright, back to you. The modifying doesn't literally mean anything bad, but it makes your body dependent on two different energy resources. Your cramps came actually from a pretty logical origin. The human body is not built to digest Energon. Some of the Energon, which did not leave your body, is in your blood circulatory system. While an organic heart cannot do anything with Energon, a spark can do the more with it. So, as illogical as that sounds, a spark has built up around your heart, making them both dependent on each other. To keep your spark beating, you have to take in a special amount of Energon per day. I calculated the perfect dose with you BMI and the amount of stress you are normally in. The only problem had been how to get the Energon directly into your blood circulatory system. That's what the syringes are there for." He lifted one up, so that I could take a better look at it.

"You are not really trying to tell me that I have to inject one of those every day, are you?" Seriously, it didn't look tempting, not in the least. It kind of already freaked me out.

"Well, actually yes. Yes, I am."

"Why is it always me?" I asked no one particular with a loud groan. Apparently the solutions to my problems were always worse than the problems themselves.

"Can't I just drink it?" I questioned, looking at him pleadingly. He placed his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side.

"Haven't you learned from the last time?"

I gasped. How did he know? I didn't talk in sleep, did I? No, I was pretty sure! He laughed, a bit disappointed how it seemed.

"I am your creator, Nightbird. I simply know those things. Don't worry, no one else does, but we keep this our little secret, alright? So, now take one of these." He said that as if I knew how.

"It's actually pretty easy. Grab one, stretch out your left arm and stick it in right there." Carefully, one of his fingers touched my skin, right above a slightly visible vein. I really had to get outside more often; I was getting a bit too pale for my taste.

With a deep swallow and Knock Out rolling his optics, I took the Energon filled syringe and put it in place. "S-so what do I do when it's in?"

"Well, what do you think?"

I stuck my tongue out at him and closed my eyes as I pushed the needle under my skin and pressed down the piston, forcing the Energon into my blood circulatory system. Then I pulled it out again and touched the spot with a single drop of blood. "Ouch."

"Don't make such a fuss, you'll get used to it. Here." He handed me a strange piece of hard, dark leather with a built-in bracket. It looked a bit like two through the bracket connected collars. I held it on eye level and turned it around, to get a better look at it.

"You can strap that around your leg and put a filled syringe in. It's for emergencies. For example if you don't get back to the warship soon enough but need the energon. The syringe can hold the exact amount of Energon you need for one day. It's the best if you wear it everywhere you go. No matter if you sleep or drive or whatever." Within seconds he managed to get the small syringe into the small bracket, held it up and turned it upside down, demonstrating that it couldn't fall out.

"When would I ever be so far away from the warship that you couldn't send me a bridge?" I asked while I moored the thing to my right leg. As I didn't receive an answer, I looked up at him to see why he was so distracted. Poor Knock Out. He probably really just had a shock...

"I just got a message from lord Megatron. He wishes to talk to me. Erm... Here. Go to one of the laboratories, you can read a bit if you want." he stated absentminded as he sat me down onto the ground and hushed out of the room. With a loud sigh, I jogged out of the med-bay. Oh man, it would take some time to get used to this thing at my leg.

"Ravage?" I shouted while strolling down the aisle. I really wondered what happened to the warship's crew. Where by the pits of Kaon were they all?

"...Ravage will accompany Starscream... "

I froze at the voice of my master, turned around and started giggling at how frightened I had reacted. In the end, it had only been Soundwave. The communications chief tilted his head to the side, as if he was asking me what I did. Oh come on, I bet he knew what I did. His spies were everywhere!

"I'm actually on my way to one of the laboratory screens. Knock Out allowed me to read a bit more about the golden age, beginning of the war and so on."

Soundwave nodded and placed his hand in front of me on the floor. Odd. Even more odd was that I actually managed to stand on one of his creepy claw-like fingers. And probably the oddest thing was that he brought me to the big laboratory near the energon storage room. I never thought I'd be allowed to go in there alone!

With one graceful movement he sat me onto the keyboard and turned to the screen, opening different files next to each other. I was more than certain that I actually wasn't allowed to read what he was showing me there. The actual origin of the Decepticons. The speeches of Megatron, or Megatronus as his name had been at that time.

I turned around to face Soundwave, whose faceplate was near enough to mine. I leaned forward, pressing a kiss on where his cheek should be; and accidently leaving a print of my lips on the glass. "Thank you."

For a second, he actually seemed to be 'speechless'. I could see my grinning expression as a reflection on his face and then I believe he glitched. I couldn't really say he did, but he suddenly was out of the room.

"Without another word..." I mumbled and then started giggling like a little girl, before turning back to the big screen and starting to read.

It was surprising how different the old cybertronian language was from the currently used one. Though I had to confess I liked the old one much better. The words they used were so much smoother and more elegant. But the best was definitely seeing the recordings of Megatronus the gladiator. Never had I imagined him to be such a skilled fighter. I mean I knew no one could beat him but standing up against his enemies like this?

After some searching, I also found a few documents of Orion Pax and Megatronus while they had worked together back in the days when Cybertron had lost the glory of the golden age. It was hard to understand them both, regarding that they both spoke completely different accents. Megatronus had come from the pits of Kaon and as such held a rougher and less formal accent, although he had proven he could, without big effort, talk like Cybertronians of the higher castes. Orion Pax on the other hand had always been a clerk in Iacon and therefor held this lofty accent of the Iaconians.

I preferred the way Megatronus talked when he talked like a member of the higher castes. He did not sound as narcissistic and arrogant as they did, but his choice of words were indeed fascinating. It would have been such a pity if Soundwave hadn't recorded those things. How many speeches and thoughts would have been forgotten?

*****"They will never understand because they do not care to understand. As long as their situation is better than ours..."

I was just watching one of the recordings in which Megatronus was talking to Orion Pax when the recording suddenly stopped. It cut off right in the middle of the sentence.

*****"... understanding is the last thing they want." the same voice suddenly ended the sentence, though the recording still did not go on. I took a deep breath and turned around to my master.

"Master, forgive me. I did not intend in doing anything that might anger or insult you, my liege. It is only that Knock Out gave me the allowance to gain new knowledge about the golden age of Cybertron and I found these records and..." His rough laugh made me stop my rambling. Praise the Allspark I didn't trip over my tongue. Surprising actually, regarding how fast I had tried to excuse myself... The ground shivered as he took a few steps forward.

"In what way might these anger or insult me?" I was unsettled and a bit frightened. With a questioning smile I looked up at him, causing him to laugh once again.

"Apparently you are going to hold your cover for Soundwave, aren't you? I commanded him to give you the ability of seeing and reading those, out of pure curiosity. How much of them did you understand?" he asked, bending down so that we were nearly on optic-to-eye level. I got goose bumps at how close he was to me and how his red optics burned like flames.

"Everything, Lord Megatron, although the Iaconian accent was the easiest understand."

"Fascinating, indeed. What do you think about our origin?" The flames seemed to burn themselves right into my chest and force my heart to pump faster under the pressure, but oddly enough, it stayed the same. Neither did I feel my cheeks go red or sweat come up on my forehead.

Fortunately I knew he meant the Decepticon origin.

"I never had the chance to really learn what exactly the cause is fighting for, my liege. Now that I know more of Cybertron's past and the circumstances the high council designated as the status quo, it is only logical to me that the race of the Cybertronians rose to lead their planet back towards the golden age. It is simply hard for me to understand the high councillors' train of thought! If Orion Pax had only gained an idea of what he was fighting for through your speeches in the pit, then why did they make him a Prime while he had simply been a follower of your vision of the new Cybertron? That seems hardly logical to me. He had only been a data clerk after all. Never really known what was going on in the lower castes. Just like why Optimus Prime had changed your vision of Cybertron into a new one which the Autobot cause follows, if he had in the beginning been on your side? ...Master." I quickly added, shrinking a bit.

"The treachery of Optimus Prime has cost us many brothers and sisters. Even worlds got destroyed in our war! His 'compassion' is only from use to underdeveloped species and vermin. He does not see the unworthiness inside them. Does not notice if they do not even possess a spark. He would sacrifice Cybertron and the whole Cybertronian race to save the life of a single mindless vermin.

My theory is that he simply wishes to be a worthy Prime, a leader. But the leadership of a Prime is unlimited and resembles a dictatorship. The Primes had always seen themselves as higher beings of the cybertronian race. Our cause fights for the equality of all Cybertronians, no matter what name they carry or what caste they belong to. It was always supposed to bring Cybertron back to the times where we had been the most respected planet of the galaxy. Of all galaxies. But the Prime does not seem to wish for that. He puts every species on the same rank and himself far above. It sickens me how he abused our ideals for a new Cybertron and twisted and turned and pressed them into his own vision."

I flinched as he clenched his hand into a fist and showed his unbelievably sharp teeth. They weren't shiny white and accurately placed, those were fangs, even more dangerous than Ravage's. I couldn't do anything but stare at him. He was right. Every word he said was the truth.

"Fortunately our chances are good to win the war." I stated, feeling the need to reply. The silence was getting too frightening.

"Our chances? So you do see yourself as a part of the Decepticon cause, Nightbird?" Now I could see the curiosity in his optics. Or was it bloodlust? I swallowed, and then straightened.

"I do not see myself as a current part of the cause master, but I certainly hope to be one in the near future."

"Well, as you probably know I am not a friend of humankind. But you indeed have proved yourself worthy within the past months and, according to Knock Out, the designation human would not apply to you anymore. I am willing to find out what you are capable of with a proper education." Lord Megatron then said, engrossed in his thoughts, startling me. He wanted me to become a true Decepticon? One with proper education?

"But... m-my Lord, what would make you..." I shook my head as I was not able to form my confusion in words. He straightened again and looked down at me. Something was obviously on his mind. Whether it was bothering him or he simply played with a thought, I couldn't tell.

"Nightbird, in the middle of a war a leader has to make decisions. Some of which are grave, some hardly causing a problem. It is obvious that the cause has too little allies on this planet to make the winning of this war easy but not too little to make the loss of it inevitable. I do not wish to make an alliance with human kind, but regarding that apparently the only thing human about you has been your fragile frame, and even that has changed, it is worth a try." Then he turned around and left the room.

That was it. There was no threat, no raised optic ridge, nothing which showed he might have been uncertain whether his decision was the right one. It was said and once it was said, it would be like that.

My gaze was locked onto the door without me noticing it. I replayed the past few minutes, analysing every single movement of his muscle. Strange. Remembering did not feel like a memory, it was more than watching a video. I could recall every small detail like the shape of his armour when he moved, the way he raised his optics a bit when he talked.

I turned around to the screen, regarding the picture of Megatronus. The difference was easy to see. Megatronus's eyes had been blue, his frame stood there with utmost grace, as if the heavy armour weighed no more than a few feathers and the charming smirk on his face would have certainly let every femme on Cybertron melt away. The Megatron these days was war hardened, did not often show a smile on his face and if he did, than only to show he was pleased with the accomplishments of his plans. The years of war and lack of recharge and rest had marked his face, though his muscles were obviously stronger than ever.

"Nightbird?"

The door hissed open and a clearly confused looking Knock Out stepped in. He offlined the screen and placed me on his shoulder.

"I don't know why and I'm not sure whether I want to know, but Soundwave is meticulously buffing his faceplate in my med-bay..."


	14. Patch

**_ATTENTION:_**_ **Supplement**_**To everyone who reads this, I know I have not updated for some time and I unfortunately have to tell you that the chapter which was planned to be uploaded this week is not completely ready. I am not going to be able to upload until the beginning of the next year. I will continue writing though, so that you will (if everything goes as planned) a new chapter every week until this story is finished. If you have any questions go to my profile for further information or PM me.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>You're not planning on killing me, right? I know it's been millenia since I updated. But at least here's a longer chappie :D<em>**

**_Thanks to FireRose Prime for betaing this chappie _**

**_And : Transformers and everything else belongs to hasbro (unfortunately)_**

* * *

><p><em><em><strong>Patch<strong>__

_**Nightbird's POV**_

"So, I'm never going back again? Like in never ever seeing any of them again if Lord Megatron decides I'm worthy?"

He nodded as if that was no big deal.

"I couldn't even say goodbye..." Even though Hannah and Ron had never really been like parents for me or I had pretended that they hadn't, even though I hated them, they somehow still belonged to me. Would I miss them? Not as much as I would miss Knock Out, but would it hurt to know I'd never see them again? Never before had I lost someone close to me. You couldn't count my biological parents; they did not play any role in my life. But I couldn't even think of what the 'Cons would be doing with Hannah and Ron if I stayed. They had to destroy any proof I had ever existed after all...

"Does it matter? I thought you didn't care for them. They're only humans, remember?" He smirked at me as we packed the suitcase. More like as _he _packed the suitcase. I just sat there on my bed, staring into space.

"Yeah, only humans..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Knock Out's POV<strong>_

I quickly packed everything she needed. Not many clothes, we'd buy her something more resistant once she was accepted, which she certainly would be. Megatron was interested in her, thought she could provide us some advantage. That did not matter to me, as long as she stayed alive and well and I could keep an optic on her.

Most of the stuff was personal; mainly things I had given her as a present after a long mission or something like that. I could still recall all the days and how she had jumped with joy when I had once again bought her something new from another part of the planet. Like this one. She'd loved it, would wear it anytime she could. It was a red dress with white flowers all over it from a no-name designer in Italy. Something no grown up femme would wear but it looked unbelievably pretty on little girls.

* * *

><p><em><em>Flashback<em>_

"Don't you go too close to the street. I don't want to have to search you all day again!"

My little red head jumped around and danced through the crowd, every once in a while catching a soft gaze from some young mother or wanna-be father. The vanilla ice-cream in her left hand was already starting to melt, but she didn't mind as the first cold drops flowed down her hand. I snickered at that. Once she was finished with eating it, she'd come to me crying, telling me to get that sticky stuff from her skin. But I had to confess, I wouldn't like to have that stuff on my paint job either.

Hannah thought we were out in the city. Of course I couldn't tell her that we had bridged for a short trip to Europe, but that had just been so easy that I couldn't resist. Nightbird loved seeing new places, the more different the better and Lord Starscream was on a mission with half of the Decepticon crew. The only thing I had to do was hire a Drone to bridge me wherever I wanted and finish it off after the day was over. No problem.

My hologram's fingers scuttled over the wood of the bench I sat on. It was a good place. Behind it was the part of the city which Nightbird wouldn't find __that__interesting, though I had to say that there was nothing she didn't find interesting. Absolutely nothing.

In front of the bench was a railing and a single stairway leading down to the streets with the shops selling all the twaddle Nightbird loved so much and behind started the beach. It could be considered nearly empty, regarding that half of the people here were in a hurry and the other half working. Only very few were tourists. It wasn't the right season for that. The better it was for us.

Nightbird danced around the bench, hopped down the few stairs and hopped them up again. Now she was able to drink the ice cream and didn't even hesitate a second to do so when I told her. The vanilla tripled down her chin, falling onto the ground in small, white drops.

"Come here, sweetspark." I formed the words with my mouth and mentioned to my holograms right side. With joy, she danced over and sat down on my right leg, tossing the rest of her ice cream in the bin on her way. Nightbird didn't like the shell, only the melting cream inside it.

"Make it gone!" she then commanded and pushed her chin forward. Just like her hands, it was covered with the sticky cream. With skilled fingers, I brushed her red curls behind her ears and put her colorful hairgrips back on their places. Then I sighed, stood up and threw her over my holograms shoulder as if she weight more than the Nemesis itself. Accompanied by a loud squeal of her, I hushed down the stairs and headed towards the beach. My alternate-form followed so that I could easily reach the waves without having any problems with keeping up the holograms physical form.

When she finally noticed what I was up to, she started kicking and boxing my holoform. Hmm... I'd have to teach her how to beat up someone. She wasn't going to get anywhere like this.

"You want me to get it off? Sure! Will do!"

It didn't do my hologram any bad as I stepped into the water with my clothes still on and walked deeper in until my hips were covered. Then I took her and held her with a big grin over the waves. Her eyes grew big and the screaming and kicking stopped as she looked up to me and hissed in her high voice I never could take serious.

"You wouldn't dare!"

She was only long enough over the water to see me raise an eyebrow as if to say 'wouldn't I?' and then I let her fall into the water. Either this or that way, she had to learn that making herself dirty would only end up in cleaning herself up again on her own. I simply gave some support for that lesson.

But I did not fail to lift her up again once she came with many coughs to the surface and glared at me. The red curls hung soaked down to the sides of her face and her dress clung tightly to her frame.

"I love you." I whispered as I gave her a kiss on her pouting mouth and had to grin even more as she fought against the smile which slowly replaced the pout.

* * *

><p><em><em>Flashback ends<em>_

"Dad?"

I folded the dress up and after a few seconds of thinking about it, laid it back into the closet. Then I turned around to look at her, seeing how she stroked Mr. Cuddles' fur.

"Yes, sweetspark?" I was her creator. I wasn't as stupid as she might think I was, but I felt stupid when I realized that I had absolutely no clue why she was sad. It was easy to see that she was. Her frame was motionless like a statue and her hair fell into her face, making up a curtain between her eyes and me. She always did that when she wanted to hide her emotions. Cutting herself off from the world.

"What will they do? To them I mean. They won't... you know what, will they?"

If I had known...

"You care about them, don't you? Although they treated you like..."

"They're still somehow my foster parents, you know. They were the only one's there if you had to go on one of your missions... And somehow I guess I got used to their constant chatter about nothing important. I don't say I want to stay with them, I'm just saying that... it would be... I don't want them to die, okay? Especially not because of me!"

I nodded. And I nodded again. I couldn't think of anything else to do than nodding.

"You wanna take him with you?" I then asked, mentioning to the teddy bear. She looked at him for a few more seconds before shaking her head slowly.

"No. No, I guess he'd be better here. You got everything?"

I shut the suitcase and stood up, giving her a comforting smile. Without looking me in the eyes, she gently placed Mr. Cuddles on the pillows of her bed, gave him a kiss on the forehead like she had always done it when she'd been little, and left the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nightbird's POV<strong>_

I did not want to look him in the eyes. He was my medic, my mentor, my friend, but at first he was supposed to be my dad! And as such, he should be leading me through hard times, right? Protecting me from the cruelty of the world. I knew he really tried hard to be a good creator, but sometimes he forgot that I was not of his species, or at least he wished that.

"Come sweetspark."

And yet I was glad when he offered me his hand. It helped a bit.

"Breakdown is opening a bridge. Lord Megatron is awaiting you."

With a slight smile on my face, I entered his vehicle form and cuddled into the passenger seat while the seat belt strapped around me. Just like in old times, when no Lord wanted anything from me and I hadn't even been aware of his existence.

For a second, it felt like everything was back to normal again, but then the realization hit me. Knock Out hadn't answered my question. He always answered my question. Except for the times he didn't think it was wise for me to hear the answer.

* * *

><p>"Do you know what this is, Nightbird?"<p>

Lord Megatron stood tall like a building next to the berth in the med-bay. He mentioned towards an item lying upon it; two connector-like endings united by a long cable. I knew it all too well. It was an often used torture method invented by the ingenious scientist Shockwave. Although Knock Out had said that he was rather insane than ingenious.

"A cortical psychic patch, my liege."

He nodded, took one of the endings and turned it around in his hands.

"Do you know what it does?"

Red optics flashed at me and I was once again surprised when my heartbeat stayed steady. I did not sweat either, nor did I feel exhausted. I was simply so damn frightened!

"It allows someone to look into the head of someone else, preferably Autobots, see the victim's memories and darkest secrets, or to find out the truth and only the truth because memories cannot be changed by the one carrying them."

I chose my words carefully. Certainly, he was testing me on something. And I was right. He laid the cortical psychic patch back on its place and crossed his arms behind his back, looking down at me with a cruel grin.

"I see you are familiar with Knock Out's instruments and tools. Certainly, you do understand that if I accept you as a part of the Decepticon cause, I must make sure that you are trustworthy."

He looked down at me and his grin widened to an unbelievable size. __Cheshire cat___, _I thought with an oddly big amount of hate paired with disgust. There was no way around this. He would be using the cortical psychic patch on me. How, I had no clue. Why I was so strangely against this? Probably because it would certainly cause me a giant amount of pain and he would know everything of my privacy and my memories with my daddy. But at least he would be able to trust me then.

I nodded. Yes I knew he had no choice, although I was pretty sure he would have done it anyway.

"Knock Out!" Lord Megatron barked while he walked over to the other berth, next to my daddy. He still looked like the cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland. Well, hopefully he wouldn't find that thought...

"My liege, is this really necessary? I assure you, Nightbird is completely trustworthy!"

"It's alright, Knock Out." I smiled up at him. Poor daddy. He was trying really hard to protect me. One day even he would see that I was growing up. One day, even he would see that I did not need protection anymore. "I do not have anything to hide from my master."

Knock Out sighed and I suppressed a loud swallow as he laid me on the berth. I forced my head back, watching Lord Megatron as he placed himself on the berth in front of me, observing Knock Out while he did so. And as if that wasn't enough, Soundwave stepped in too, stopping right in front of my berth, but not bothering to waste any of his attention on me. Knock Out took one of the patch's endings and locked it on at the back of the communications chief's head. It did not seem to make a difference for Soundwave.

I wondered why they patched him in and not me or Lord Megatron. We were the ones lying on the berths after all. But then I realized it. A human couldn't just be plugged in. Humans hadn't got any sockets or whatsoever.

His gaze most likely held me on place – at least I thought it was - while one of his tentacles made its way up the berth, stopping right behind my head. My eyes widened in shock as I finally got a notion of what was about to happen. Unfortunately, I could not do anything against that, thus I took one deep breath and turned my head to the side, closing me eyes.

I already knew that in Soundwave's big tentacles, there were other ones. Many more small ones, looking rather organic than Cybertronian. I never touched them before and I had actually hoped I never would, but now they glided down my spine. Once again, I had to suppress the urge to swallow and instead shivered in disgust. Like worms it felt as they made their way over my skin, left me feel dirty and filthy, evoking a sick feeling in my stomach. I could feel how they placed themselves slightly offset on my spine, a slight flow of static coming through them. It wasn't painful or unpleasant; it just felt a bit odd. I opened my eyes, to look at Knock Out, who was kneeling beside the berth of Lord Megatron, the other end of the cortical psychic patch in hand. He gave me an encouraging smile – which also appeared a bit concerned - and then nodded up at Soundwave.

Suddenly, the slight tingle went into a real shock, running down my spine into my arms and legs, torturing my brain and making my whole body cramp. I bit on my tongue - forcing myself to stay mute - and tasted blood, though the whole thing did not last longer than one or two seconds. Thereafter everything went black.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>__Daaadddy!"__

__My feet barely managed to carry me through the woods while I ran past all these trees, searching for him. He'd told me to count to three and then search. How mean. I always had to give him so much time and he was long gone! That was why I always turned around after one second. The chance of finding him was bigger like that.__

_"___Daaaaaaddy!"__

__I tripped over a branch and fell onto the ground. Fortunately, the ground was dry and my dress didn't get too dirty. As I lifted myself up, I spotted red optics between the trees, although I thought they were much higher than they should be...__

__I didn't mind. Only daddy had red optics and daddy was nice. So I jumped up and toddled towards the red optics, spreading my arms.__

_"___Daddy!"__

__But the closer I came, the less the carrier of those red optics looked like my Knock. His metal armor wasn't from this warm, beautiful and perfectly buffed red paint job. It was a silver, metallic and scratched armor, with sharp endings. This wasn't daddy...__

_"___Birdie. I'm pretty sure you didn't count to three..."__

__I turned around, not minding the red-opticed man who looked down at me with a slightly tilted head, and ran towards my daddy. But I could still feel his presence, even when I couldn't make out his silhouette between the trees anymore.__

* * *

><p><em><em>Knock Out took the pretty picture I had painted for him and pinned it on the empty fridge. I had to smile at that. It was two times the size of the one we've had before, but the other one left no more space for my paintings, so daddy had brought a new one. Hannah thought it was a present for her, because today was her birthday, so I had decided to paint this picture for her and I had promised her to paint even more so that this fridge would be covered soon, too.<em>_

__Knock sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and winked me over. I toddled towards him and he lifted me up, placing me on his lap.__

__I looked at my paintings. A big red Knock Out, saving Cybertron. The sign he wore all ____over his alternate-form - 'Decepticon insignia', how he had taught me it was called – in different colors and shapes.__

__A red-opticed Decepticon beating down a blue optic. I always forgot how they were called so I simply called them blue optics. They looked strange. Knock Out had once shown me a hologram of one...__

__Suddenly, I noticed a change in the windows. Daddy didn't seem to notice the red-opticed Transformer who knelt beside our house and looked inside through the window, tilting his head at me, then looking at the paintings and frowning.__

* * *

><p><em>"<em>__And that's Cybertron?"__

__I shoved a red curl out of my sight and leaned more forward, to investigate the hologram once more. Knock Out had finally shown it to me. He'd asked me what I wished for to my twelfth birthday and I had replied that I wanted to know more about Cybertron and the golden age.__

_"___Of course. Though not in the golden age..."__

_"___Neither in the wartime."__

__I knew how Cybertron had looked like in the wartime. Well, at least I knew it vague. From his war stories and his descriptions I had made myself a picture of it. Now I could improve it.__

_"___Which one is it?" I asked, looking up at the sky in awe. I believed there was nothing more I wished of than to one day step a foot on its ground. How it must feel like?__

_"___Hmmm... It should be about there. You see the really bright one there? Next to it, there is a less bright one. A few light years further away, there's Cybertron."__

_"___So, I can't even see it?"__

__He shakes his head.__

_"___And even if, only barely. But in the golden age one should have been able to see it from here."__

"Fascinating..."

__I flinched at the unknown voice that sent shivers down my spine. It had been really faint, but I was certain that it was somewhere behind me...__

* * *

><p><em>"<em>__Knock Out...?"__

__He groaned. My creator knew all too well what I wanted from him.__

_"___Yesterday, I said no. The week before, I said no. What in the pits of Kaon makes you think I would agree today?"__

__I made a pout and looked up at him with the best puppy look I could manage.__

_"___Of course I won't! What happens if you cause an accident? Then you're dead and my seat cushions are all soiled!"__

__I snorted. He was lying I knew that. If I really was about to make an accident, he would be taking over. He was way too worried about his finish to take the risk.__

_"___But I've gone to the Autobot base, have had my audience with Lord Megatron and am a respected spy!"__

__Now he snorted.__

_"___A respected spy? Birdie, you're everything but that. You're a child and I'm your creator!"__

_"___It's not like you can play the 'I-got-through-a-lot-of-pain-with-your-birth-and-n ow-you-owe-me-big-time'- card. You're not my mother."__

__As soon as the words left my mouth I already regretted them. Even before the expression of shock and hurt flashed across Knock Out's face and although it only stayed for a few seconds, it was obvious that this had really been below the belt.__

_"___I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean that!"__

__I had always known that he wasn't my real father. He had never kept that a secret from me, neither the fact that my parents were dead. But he had never told me why. And the fact that he wasn't my real father made him sick. I knew he was trying to hide that, but I knew it ever since I figured out he was trying to be the best foster father ever existed and one day I even figured out that it wasn't important to me who had been my real parents. Certainly, one day that would come up and bother me, but Knock Out was all I needed. I didn't need a mother and a father when I had the best creator!__

_"___I know, Birdie."__

* * *

><p><em><em>There I stood. In front of Optimus Prime. The cruel murderer of so many Decepticon comrades. The one who took the life out of my home planet, Cybertron, and who brought us the war.<em>_

__"You lied to us!"__

__No battle mask, no weapons and yet I still managed to get goose bumps on my arms. It was his voice. His simple voice. Unfortunately, I had to confess, that his voice was the most impressive one I had ever heard. Ingenious, epic, rough, dark and yet so soothing. For a second, I understood why so many transformers were Autobots. If he held a speech, the whole universe must go silent.__

__"Everything humans know of our planet, we were told, it'd all been shared. So why was this found in human possession?" He pointed to the desk. Now, I got aware that there ____was something lying on the desk. It was round, like a ball and had broken wires on some sides. I've never seen anything like this before.__

__"We've been in the dark on this, also. It was director only clearance in sector 7, also now." Then, Charlotte Mearing suddenly turned to me. "The bag."__

__Oh shit! I searched around hectically, not knowing which one she meant. "Which bag?" I whispered slightly panicked. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed at me like a snake. "Hermes berkin, green ostrich!"__

__Then she turned to Optimus and whispered "Oh my god."__

__I quickly grabbed the bag and rushed over to her, freezing when Optimus Prime's gaze caught mine and I staggered backwards when he finally let go of it, after what felt like eons. Then I met Bumblebee's gaze. He looked sad. Because of me?__

__With time, the Autobot leader's face became friendlier. Damn, he could act. Lord Megatron would've torn the dragon's head off if she'd ever talk to him like that.__

__For about thirty minutes, I tried to listen to them and was surprised to see this side of the Prime. It was already a miracle that Lord Megatron permitted me inside the Decepticon ranks, though I was probably one of the lowest there. How could the Prime, who had been treated as a deity back in the golden age, see all these vermin crawling around him? Was all this really worth getting a small advantage against the Decepticons?__

"Knock Out, I've seen enough!"

__I let out a scream at the sudden voice of my master. What was he doing here?__

__I turned around to stare up at him. He stood directly in front of me and Optimus Prime, yet he did not try to terminate the Prime...__

__I couldn't decide what to do. Either I would bow as I was told to do whenever I saw him or I stayed in my role as I was told to do before the mission.__

__I decided for the latter.__

* * *

><p>With a silent scream I woke up, looking around the room frantically. Just a second later, I recognized my surroundings as the med-bay of the Decepticon warship and relaxed a bit. Soundwave had pulled his tentacles back and looked down at me, showing me my reflection.<p>

My heart was pounding and my forehead was wet, like when you wake up after a bad nightmare, although my hair was still as good as before. My eyes were widened in shock and my shoulders lifted and lowered, as if to underline my heavy panting.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and gazed over at Lord Megatron who stood up and left the room without another word. Knock Out rolled the patch up and laid it into a shelf under one of the screens. He looked exhausted and concerned, yet he smiled at me. Finally a true smile.

"Soundwave, you saw it too, didn't you?" I asked weakly, not daring to lift myself up. I felt dizzy and had to hold onto the berth, feeling as if I was falling down all the way to rock bottom. The communications chief gave one slow nod.

"Good or bad?" Knock Out asked, fiddling around with something. Soundwave only nodded once more, now looking at Knock Out, observing his movements as he appeared to come closer to me, from behind.

"Ouch!" I suddenly called out, getting a rough laugh as a response. A needle buried itself in my arm once more and blue liquid disappeared in my blood circulatory system.

"You would have forgotten to do that daily, wouldn't you?"

"Imighthave... doneit... ifyouhadgivenmesomemoretime..." I mumbled with injured pride.

"Last time has been yesterday five breems ago. Sweetspark you actually have to do that at the exact same time." he said and pulled the needle out again, smiling down at me.

I could feel something. On the contrary to yesterday, I could feel how it helped my body, how my heart slowed down and the dizziness went away. How my whole body got stronger, not hulk like strong, but as if I did a lot more sports.

"How am I supposed to do that? I won't be able to remember that every day!" I exclaimed.

"I know. I'm already working on something, but until then you should at least try it." With one finger he helped me up and then gave Soundwave a look. "Lord Megatron wishes to talk to me, Nightbird. It won't take long. Just stay here and don't do anything stupid."

"Seriously? When did I ever do anything stupid?"

"Trick question? Otherwise I wouldn't have to inject energon into your circulatory system, eh?"

Then he disappeared and the door hissed shut behind him. I stood up looking at Soundwave whose gaze appeared to be locked onto the door as if he expected Knock Out to come back any second.

"Soundwave?"

His faceplate turned around, acknowledging my request for his attention.

"What happened with Knock Out?"

For a second, I thought he wouldn't answer, but then the screen on his faceplate flickered to life and I could see a completely messed up and scratched certain medic, entering the Decepticon base in fury.

"Can you believe what the Autobots did to me?"

Lord Megatron stepped closer, looking down at him with a dangerous expression of anger.

"Did you retrieve the relic?!" he barked.

"No, master."

"Then I suggest you convince me of your continued usefulness, starting with examining Laserbeak, doctor. Otherwise this may as well be the end of experiments of yours I used to tolerate."

Experiments of his? By the pits of Kaon! Lord Megatron threatened Knock Out with killing me! I meant everything to him! Even more than his paint job!

"By the pits of Kaon..." I spoke out loud, my gaze falling to the ground. So he did have more to worry about. And I just had to be so stupid and cause him more problems!

"Do you think Lord Megatron will... accept me?"

I just couldn't believe I had been so stupid! And I didn't even notice in _how _bad shape he was! Soundwave nodded. At least that was good news. Who knows what would have happened to Knock Out if Lord Megatron killed me? Okay, I'm no hero here, I'd be freaking afraid if I knew he was about to kill me. I've seen how he slaughtered Autobots and I certainly did not want to end the same way they did...

"Thank you, Soundwave."

The communications chief nodded and offered me a hand. I shook my head, but thanked him for the offer. First: I would have to learn coming down from these berths myself one day and second; I'd rather stay here and wait for Knock Out.

Gracefully, he turned around and left the room, leaving me alone in the dim lit med-bay. I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in between. Before even realizing what I did, my body started shivering with sobs escaping my throat. Everything, all the feelings I had held back within the past few month since the Decepticons found out about my existence, all the fear and guilt and anger and hate came out at once. I wanted to scream, to shout, to run and run and never stop. I wanted to fly, jump of the warship and fly away. Fly to Cybertron and see what the Autobots had done to our home!

As always, I did not hear him as he entered the room. I only heard the door hiss open and then I felt his tail wrapping around my body, his head nuzzling my back as he tried to comfort me in his own way.

"I'm ridiculous, right? No Decepticon cries."

I knew what he thought when he started purring. To him and probably many others of the warship, I was still a youngling, probably even a sparkling. I was allowed to cry and complain. Knock Out knew that I was actually older if one would only convert my earthian age into the one of a Cybertronian, but of course no one did that and I guessed that was good for me.

I cuddled closer into Ravages chest armor, listening to his steady spark beat. I could feel mine going slower, steadier, starting to adjust to his...

"What the... __What __are you two doing?!"

Ravage jumped up and hissed at Knock Out, then jumped off the berth and disappeared. I could see Knock Out's optics twitch; his hands were clenched to fists. I tried to give him a smile.

"He was just trying to give me some comfort, Knock..." He kneeled down and brushed a scan over my body, shaking his head while doing so.

"Do you not ever do that again, did you understand me?" he roared and caused me to flinch. I didn't even dare to ask why.

"You two could have bonded!" he shouted and his red optics burned with fury.

"No! It's not like we love each other or anything like that!"

"And it's not like only sparkmates can get a bond! There are different types of bonds and if you had read the data pad I had given to you, you would know that!"

"I have and I know! Now stop screaming at me! Nothing happened, okay?" He rose and took a step back, massaging the space between his optics. After what felt like millennia he looked back at me and sighed.

"Do you know what Lord Megatron would have done to you if he knew you shared a bond – of any kind! - with one of his soldiers? Decepticons are not allowed to share bonds unless Lord Megatron makes an exception. Soundwave is allowed to share a bond with his drones because he has had one ever since their creation. The seekers are allowed to share bonds because a trine __has__to share them. But that's it! There are no other kinds of bonds allowed unless permitted."

I looked to the ground in shame and nodded. I wasn't used to him scolding me. He never really did that.

Something told me that I had to help him, somehow. I had to convince Lord Megatron from Knock Out's usefulness and trustworthiness. I owed him that.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Thanks for reading and please Review ;)<em>**

**_Your reviews are my bread, I'm starving without them..._**

**_BTW check out a little ficlet my good friend Girl Supersonicboy (Luuuuuvv you!) wrote down while we had a... chit chat xD it's called : The Twisted Adventures of Two Knock Out Fangirls _**


	15. Becoming a member

_**I'm Back!**_

_**Long story short: I don't have a beta reader anymore, so should anyone want to help me out I would appreciate your help;)**_

_**Feel free to leave your emotions and thoughts for me to read as a review or a PM. You would make my day and speed up the writing process for the next chappie;)**_

_**Have fun reading**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Becoming a member<strong>_

_**Nightbird's POV**_

I whimpered, gritting my teeth. With all of my strength I tried to stay still, not to move but it friggin hurt! My nails scratched over the metal of the berth I laid on, making this horrible sound and another whimper escaped my throat. Still, Knock Out didn't show any mercy while he slowly burned the insignia into my flesh. His face stayed cold and focused. My legs started to cramp and I hit them on the berth, to get them to stop. Now I was sweating, my heart was racing and my body bending under the immense amount of pain. I had no clue what tool he used, only that it felt like the flame of a bunsen burner set on the hottest possible level. I wanted to jerk away, to scream, shout, get it to stop, - no matter how - but no, I would certainly not be the first Decepticon to show weakness at this!

Slowly I turned my head to the left, watching Knock Out kneeling beside my berth, concentrating completely on what he was doing. I knew, in the end it would be like as if it belonged there and had been there ever since my birth. It would be stretching all across the muscle on my upper arm and with agony I watched how he finished the left half of it. For a second, he lifted the tool regarding his work and leaving my body time to catch the whole amount of pain radiating from that sector. Then he sighed and onlined the tool once more. Meanwhile I pressed my eyes close and bit my lip, concentrating on my plan to not shout. A drop of sweat flew down my forehead and my nose until it landed on my lip. Happy for the distraction I licked it, concentrating on the salty taste as I tried not to pant too heavily, while the flame, or whatever it was, burned its way deep into my muscle. Any distraction would make me happy right now...

Lord Megatron had officially accepted me as a part of the Decepticon ranks. And not only that, I was a real part of them and would get higher education. At first I had not known what kind of education he had meant, but then Knock Out had explained to me that I would get taught about the war, the golden age, the rank Cybertron has had in the universe before it's fall and our duty to restore this place. I would learn the different languages spoken on our home planet and I would receive medical training from Knock Out! First I had thought that was it, but no. They also wanted to teach me in combat. Train me. As far as I knew, I would learn how to fight in close combat and how to shoot, but I had no idea how they were going to train me and when I would ever get to fight. It wasn't like I could just step up against a tall-like-a-building Autobot and fight his... foot? I would certainly not be getting much higher after all.

"Aargh!", I groaned when a sudden, even stronger pain shot through my arm and I rolled up to a ball as soon as Knock Out turned around. He was finished with this side, finally! Curses flew over my lips like water would flow down a waterfall, while I held my shoulder and rocked back and forth, back and forth in a pitiful attempt to ease the pain. The sudden outburst of cybertronian made Knock Out nervous. I could clearly see how the wheels on his shoulder turned like they only did when he was in distress.

"I'll show mercy and postpone the right insignia for a couple of days.", he whispered sadly, without even turning around to me. His arms were placed on the table in front of him as if he needed assist to stand. Still holding my arm, I sat up, tilting my head in confusion as I did so.

"But before you leave, I still have something for you." Finally, he turned around, holding out his left hand to present me some sort of black bracelet. It was – like everything else around here – made out of a strong metal, perhaps even cybertronium, and not much thicker than the tip of my thumb. The smile he offered me along with the bracelet was obviously fake. He used to be truly happy when offering me a present. Now, it looked more like he was about to cry than anything else.

With shaking hands, I picked the gift up from his palm and turned it around in front of my face to get a better view. It looked heavier than it was and the smooth metal fitted perfectly around my wrist. Though I usually wore bracelets on my left arm, I tried it on my right this time. Probably because my subconscious didn't want anything else to get near my newly burned in insignia.

But as soon as I placed the bracelet on my wrist, small metal stings came out of the sides, too much like cables to call them needles, but not enough like needles to call them that. I gritted my teeth when I realized what they were for but it was too late. The bracelet transformed into some sort of cuff and the needle/cable things bore themselves deep into the flesh of my arm. The endings were glowing slightly as they prepared to connect with my nervous system. And when they finally did, small electric waves kept my body from moving. I was frozen in my position while the pain racing through my frame gradually faded away. It took fifteen seconds in the least and within these fifteen seconds, my frozen gaze of shock and agony had laid on my creator who hadn't even flinched at the sight. He had looked down at me with the same sad gaze only that his fake smile was replaced by a crumbling one, which couldn't hide his own agony in the least.

_**Ravage's POV**_

**Ravage: report to your master**

Three blue optics, one red optic. Traitor! My claws wanted to dig deep into his pathetic excuse for armor and my fangs longed to tear his head off.

**Ravage: attack would equal suicide**

A low growl escaped me and I silently made my retreat. Retreat was harder to accomplish than usual, regarding the fact that I had once served side by side with this pest. Had called him ally. He would pay for disgracing the glorious name of the Decepticons.

**Ravage: mission is priority**

Silent, like the snipers back on Cybertron, I searched my way through the old Autobot base. Most would have thought it was abandoned. But the traitor, an unknown Autobot, the muscle car and Wheeljack – the blue sight Nightbird had discovered – were salvaging the wrecks. A few humans had accompanied them. As fate wanted, they hadn't seen me coming. A pity my orders were to spy the Autobots undetected. A task, too easy for my taste. The ruins of the building gave me uncountable options to get a clear view over them without being discovered.

**Ravage: is the sphere secured?**

I had found many things. Weapons – even from unknown Autobot technology – earthian storage devices, though with no useful information, and even a few still undiscovered bodies of those humans who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but there was not the slightest trace of the sphere.

**Ravage: return**

Another growl came from my vocalizer and I crawled beneath a large piece of ceiling. My claws detached to their full length and I made my way over to the shadows on the other side of the wreck without making the slightest noise. The all to familiar sound of the groundbridge came from across the street and I glanced back in the direction of the Autobots and the traitor. They would pay with their lifes for everything they had done. Maybe not today, but one day they would pay.

With a big, graceful jump, I entered the groundbridge and with a second jump I landed aboard the Nemesis. My master already awaited me. He stretched out his servo to acknowledge my return and I let him drive his digits over my armor. With guilt I had to realize that this did not feel as good as it usually did when Nightbird was at my masters place.

**Nightbird: current location: medical bay**

And without any feelings of guilt or regret, I sped towards the medical bay. I wasn't surprised to hear that she was there. Her medical training had probably already started.

The door hissed open for me and I trotted inside, looking around. Odd. I hadn't expected her to be on one of the berths. Probably needed a better place to see, she wasn't one of the tallest after all. I silently snickered and jumped up the medical berth, to get a better look myself.

But in the end, there was nothing to look at. At least nothing for her to study...except from her arm. Carefully, I stepped closer, bowing my head a little to approach her in the appropriate height. I wanted to greet her. Congratulate her for the insignia, but she did not look happy at all. Her lips twitched and she held her right arm in her left hand, examining a strange black cuff. It was obvious that this had been one of the many projects Knock Out had been working on lately. It had worked its way deep into her flesh and I assumed it had combined with her nervous system. The complex technology could even be called beautiful in the unbelievable way it had combined with her organic material...and yet I gritted my teeth at the thought of how it must have hurt for an organic creature such as Nightbird to combine with metal.

My tail wrapped around her hip and stroke over her cheek while I placed myself next to her. A big paw rested on a tiny hand. Her head fell to the side and her frame went limb against mine. I purred to comfort her while I soundlessly hissed at Knock Out. Even if the medic was suffering as much as she did, it wouldn't matter. Mess with her, mess with me.

_**Knock Out's POV**_

No way back. Her membership wasn't the end of the story. Lord Megatron did not only want to see the new possibilities that opened up with her membership, he wanted to find her borders. And although he already knew the consequences, he also wanted to see what would happen when she overstepped. Her life meant nothing. But her capabilities did. If she survived the many tasks he had planned for her, he would give human kind a chance. He would not destroy earth. He would indeed use its inhabitants to rebuilt Cybertron.

Oh what shame it was that I had been the first to congratulate him to such a plan. But how could I have known back then, that the human he would be testing would be my sparkling? Nightbird had cheered when she had heard about the plan. Her pitiful race was finally useful for something, though not in quality but in quantity. How she had begged me to convince Lord Megatron of the potential of that plan. She had always wanted to see Cybertron, but I had never been able to show her, would never be. She was a human. She could not breathe there! And the day I would be able to show her Cybertron would be the day we would return. What did she expect from me? Did she really think I would built her a device which would enable her to breathe Cybertrons atmosphere?

Granted, I was working on that. Nearly had it, but even if I managed to, Cybertron's supplies would never fit the needs of a human. Organic material was more than just rare on our home planet.

**::Knock Out, I require your presence. Immediately!::-Megatron**

I had only noticed Ravages threatening hisses in the back of my processor, but now they placed themselves in front. Harshly, I turned on my heel and bend my back so that I looked directly down on him. His audio receptors were pressed close against his head.

"Listen, brute. I am in no way content with our masters decision, just like you, but I cannot do anything against it. None of this is my fault and do not dare threatening to kill me because you have not been skilled enough to keep me from doing what is my duty! We both know that there is only one way to get her out of this alive. Do you play along or do you wish to see her perish under Megatron's grasp while continuing to play his oblivious pet?"

His optics raced from my left optic to my right one, then his gaze fell down to his adoptive sibling. With a low growl he showed his fangs and his tail protectively wrapped around her arm. The insignia on it, deeply burned into her flash, matched the many ones on Ravages armor.

"I thought so.", was the last thing I managed to whisper until I rushed out of the medical bay.

My audio receptors seemed to work double as hard as usual and the banging of my feet on the ground echoed in my processor, in addition to that my wheels appeared to be humming a caterwauling which Ravage couldn't have been doing any better. If I were human, I would have a migraine by now. But thanks to my merciless, cybertronian body, such a diversion was not going to be granted to me.

Too fast I approached the location of my "rightful Lord and Master". The door hissed open and I wasted no time to bow. After millenia, the same movements became tiresome. The same procedure, day per day, year over year, for centuries. How utterly weird that I hadn't noticed that until now. Everything was so well known, so... fatiguing. I needed some variety.

"Aah, Knock Out. How is Nightbird's medical training going?"

There you have some variety. Me and my big voice box.

"W-we have not yet been able to start my Lord, but she already is familiar with the basics of the usual medical training.", I stuttered, trying to lie myself out of the failure.

"Unfortunately for you, doctor, these basics do not include seeker technology, do they?", he hissed while looking down on me as if I was a vermin in need to be squashed under his feet. He was enjoying to see me in those situations, I was all too aware of that.

"No, my Lord. But I will see to it that Nightbird learns about such things as fast as possible."

"And that had better be fast! You will be glad to hear that I have found a tutor for Nightbird.", he added. Found? He had _searched_ one? And this _tutor_ would come from half across the Universe? What, by the pits of kaon, did Lord Megatron hope to find in Nightbird?

"A-and who would that be?", I carefully asked, although I highly doubted I wanted to hear the answer. I was so close to offline my optics when Lord Megatron let Soundwave step forward and an image appeared on his faceplate.

"M-my Lord, is this... are you... could this be some sort of joke?", I whispered, still staring onto the scan of the transformer who would be Nightbird's tutor. I knew it was no joke. Lord Megatron did not joke. At least not that I knew...

"Soundwave, I want you to test Nightbird's fighting skills. Our guest will arrive soon."

I frowned, the wheels on my back nervously scrolled up and down. This was going to be a tough night.

_**Nightbird's POV, Seeker's rec room, some time later**_

"S-soundwave? What by the pits of Kaon are you doing there?", I nearly screamed when he hooked me up to some sort of cortical psychic patch. Without a word (not that he ever talked) he had scooped me up and carried me here, not giving me the slightest hint of a clue as to why. Ravage had stayed in the med-bay, following Soundwave with his optics, just like any organic cat would.

"Soundwave, I'm really close to freaking out, so would you mind telling me...?"

**::Command: test fighting skills. Procedure: not physical.::-Soundwave**

I let out a high, surprised screech when a deep, metallic voice appeared inside my head. I knew it belonged to Soundwave. I couldn't tell why, but there was something in the message, something that told me it was him. Surprised and horrified I looked up to him, stared into his empty faceplate. He saw the question in my eyes. Gently, one of his long digits touched my cuff.

**::Device: connected with nervous system and brain. Vital functions: system, link to Decepticon network, Groundbridge control, navigation system, basic technical equipment.::-Soundwave**

The little hairs on my skin stood upright. His voice kept sending shivers down my spine, but nevertheless I allowed his tentacles to connect me to the training programs through my cuff. One of his tentacles simply touched it and the metal slid aside to reveal a plug. Breakdown had told me about this program. They used it to train seekers since there was no space for them to train in the normal rec room. And in very rare cases, it was used to test rookies to put them into the right units.

I hadn't been aware of the location of this room. Granted, I had never found the courage to ask a seeker. They still treated me like a vermin.

Suddenly, my vision went blurry. Soundwave's frame seemed to dim until it was merely a silhouette and I closed my eyes. Although the fact that I could finally hear him talk – I wondered if his voice really sounded like that? – frightened me, I trusted him and let myself fall into the emptiness of this new world. Why did I have to be so stupid?

With a hard bang, my back collided with the metal floor and all of my breath escaped my lungs at once. I could see my mistake, literally. I hadn't been falling from the beginning on. I must have already been inside the program. A few meters above me was some sort of cliff. I must have jumped down while I thought I'd simply let myself fall. It was still dark, but I could see silhouettes and a few lighter areas.

When I finally managed to catch my breath again and my lungs stopped burning, I stood up. The world around me was turning and I stumbled for a few seconds until I regained balance. My hands drove down my body, checking for injured sections. Apparently I could be injured in here, could even die in here. But as long as I only died in here, it wasn't too bad...hopefully.

While I gave myself a little check up, my hands found something odd tied to my belt. It was too dark to see it, so I tried to guess by feeling. It wasn't much longer than the edge of my hand and made out of strong, thick metal. I took it by what appeared to be a handle and held it close to my face. It looked a little bit like a gun. Probably was one, since I had to defend myself somehow.

**::Question: not aware of how to use the cuff?::-Soundwave**

I swallowed. Unfortunately, I had totally forgotten the big screen which apparently showed what happened inside the program. Just like with the cortical psychic patch. How very awkward... he had seen everything, including me falling off that cliff, or whatever it was.

"Affirmative. Knock Out had been called to Lord Megatron before he could give me any instructions.", I tried to reply as disciplined as I could. I felt odd with talking to someone who wasn't even in the same world. I didn't know where to look and I felt pretty weird with looking up. Instead I investigated my weapon further.

It indeed was a weapon, even one of advanced Decepticon technology. I couldn't find a trigger though. I threw it with my left hand and caught it with my right. I should have foreseen what came next. The gun combined with my cuff. It transformed into a weapon just like the other Cons had. One which apparently completely covered my arm, as if it had replaced it.

"Cool...", was the only comment I could give to that. Now I only had to figure out how to get rid of this thing again... But then again, I was in a combat training program. I wouldn't need to get rid of the weapon.

"What now? I don't really have a mission, do I?", I asked the emptiness of the room while I got used to the weapon on my right arm, whose weight pulled me down.

**::Mission: survive.::-Soundwave**

Once again I had to shiver at his voice randomly appearing in my mind. And yet I possessed the courage to roll my eyes at his incredibly helpful advice. I nodded and gave a weak salute while replying with an incredible amount of sarcasm dripping from my voice, "Sure. I'll try my best."

**::Advice: activate nightvision::-Soundwave **

"Say what? I have nightvision? Cool..."

I immediately shook my head in embarrassment. Did I really have to comment everything? This was no game! _Alright Nightbird, activate nightvision! _

Completely unaware of what I was doing, I fumbled around with my cuff. There was no button or switch which might help me. But I was certain that it could be opened. Well, at least I hoped it could be opened. That would make the control-this-thing part a lot easier.

My nails dug into my flesh at the spaces where metal and skin had melted together but only when I hissed repeatedly my intention; "Get open, get open, get open, getopengetopengetopen!" with an elegant swing, the black metal glided to the side, into a hidden space inside the cuff. I had been right. There was a way to operate this thing manually. But unfortunately there were no buttons with the sign "nightvision" or "detach weapon" inside. Instead, there was a plain screen, taking in nearly the whole space of the cuff.

I laid a finger on the screen and it immediately lit up in a light purple, the Decepticon insignia acted as screensaver but looked more like it was burned into the glass. I tapped onto the insignia once more and reached some sort of control menu.

It was written in cybertronian and the glyphs were written in the Decepticon way. The language of the Autobots and the neutral Cybertronian looked softer, even gentle compared to this. But I had no problem with reading it. I quickly pressed the glyphs I thought might get me the "nightvision" and got caught off guard by a pain like thousand melting needles stabbing my eyes from inside my head. I groaned, pressing my hands on them, but forgot the weapon in my hand and the metal hit my forehead so hard that I had to groan again.

The pain only lasted a few seconds and when I opened my eyes again, without having the slightest feeling of a difference, I could finally see my surroundings. I was standing in the middle of a once magnificent hall. Well, at least the ruins of it. The walls had started to crumble down and the ceiling looked like it was about to collapse. One of the crumbled walls had made some sort of second floor, which so happened to be the cliff I had jumped down. I would always feel like an insect in cybertronian surroundings. To my left was a door, which would probably refuse to slide open because of my size.

I rubbed my forehead where the weapon had hit it and then stomped determinedly towards the door. To my luck, it detected my signal and hissed open. That was quite strange, since these doors shouldn't be used to lifeforms as small as I was...

I had to blink at the bright light flooding the room and lifted my left arm above my head to shield it, but when I suddenly stood in the shades again, I got the dark realization why the door really opened. Not because I required it to, no. Someone from the outside must have wanted to enter.

Slowly I looked up and before my brain could even start processing what it saw, the Autobot, whose giant cannon could nearly have swallowed me completely, fired...

(-)

I awoke with a scream. If you could call this waking up. Soundwave was staring down at me, no emotion to be seen on his faceplates, just like always. I let my hands drive down my body, checked my stomach, where the bullet should have torn me apart, examined my hand, where the weapon should have still been locked onto my cuff, and finally looked up at him, still panting heavily from the shock. Without a last look, Soundwave turned around, wanting to leave the room.

"Soundwave, wait.",I cried out after him, caused him to stop in the middle of a step. His head turned around, the screen covering his visage facing me. I swallowed, rubbing my head while looking at the ground.

"I screwed it up, didn't I?"

Soundwave gave a single nod, waited a few more seconds, but as it appeared that I had nothing more to say, he left. While I was sitting in the seekers rec room, all alone by myself, I decided to find out more about my cuff. I commanded it to open and as if to send comfort for my failure in the training program, it immediately obeyed. So I explored the possibilities of my cuff, nearly thinking that the pain I have had to go through was worth it. I was directly linked to the Decepticon database, so that I could look up everything I desired. In addition to that, the cuff possessed a scanner, to collect information from technology, which might come in pretty handy should I continue to work as a spy. I would have to ask Knock Out to explain the Groundbridge remote control to me, though. It was much more complex than the rest.

I flinched when a low purr suddenly reached my ears. But I was too stubborn to turn around and let him win again. Maybe I could still fool him into believing I had known he was there all along. Still staring at my cuff, I tried to listen carefully, to maybe get a noise which would tell me when he approached.

There! A nearly unnoticeable scratch of his claws on the metal ground. I smiled and waited for his next step. Another scratch and a few seconds later again. Now, completely concentrated on the noise, I held my breath, tried to listen between my heartbeats and locate him. Knock Out had, since I could remember, played these kinds of games with me. Trying to improve my hearing and sensitize it, enabling me to form a graphical map of my surroundings only by listening to the noises they made.

He was about four feet behind me, slightly to the left. Not more than two seconds and he would go for it.

I tried to relax my body, keep myself from showing him that I knew where he was. Scratch! I dodged to the side, rolled off the berth and landed on my feet in a crouched position. A smile lit up my face when I could hear him hiss in astonishment. His red optics twinkled and he hopped down, trotting to my side.

"I screwed it up, Ravage. I totally screwed it up."

He nudged my shoulder and his tail wrapped around my waist, caressing my cheek.

**::Offer: official training during day, training with Ravage during night.::-Ravage**

I winced. It was hard to get used to the . Especially hearing it from Ravage. His voice sounded so raw and dark, yet he did not sound old. Younger than Knock Out and Breakdown...

"You would practice with me? Really? In the seekers rec room?", I asked and surprised myself with the mixture of excitement and fear I could filter out of it.

He nodded and, for the fraction of a second, offlined one of his optics as if to wink at me. I answered with an even brighter smile. Sometimes I wondered how I had managed to survive without him.


	16. Team selection

_**Alright all you intelligent individuals out there. The next chapter is ready and a big thanks to Hikari Nove for acting as my beta this time :D**_

_**Enjoy **_

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Team selection<strong>_

It was dark again. Pitch black. Just like it had been in my first training session. Back then, it must have been the same level as the one I would attempt now, which was only logical since I had failed miserably. I activated my nightvision option on the cuff and gladly realized that the pain wasn't half as strong as I would have expected it to be. My eyes were probably adapting already and the darkness quickly turned into a dark green grid of objects and movements around me.

I looked around just to find Ravage standing right next to me. His tail flickered from one side to the other, she sharp spikes attached to its end nearly scratching the floor. Either he was nervous or – as I suspected – listening and trying to detect the enemy. I realized that the ion cannon usually hidden under his back plates, was now visible and loaded. I quickly attached the small gun meant for me to my cuff and gave him a nod. Yes, this time I was prepared.

**::Tactics: split up. Wait for enemy to open door in order to search room. Important: Do not attack. Mission: Survive. Conclusion: sneak out.::-Ravage**

Since I had no idea yet how to use my system, I just nodded sharply and jumped down the ledge after him, landing on my bunions to make a nice and quiet landing. We both hid opposite each other in the shadows next to the door. Ravage to it's right, I to it's left. And then we waited. It was not a boring kind of waiting though. Not at all. My mind was on high alert and was able to pick up the slightest of noises around me; my own breath, the rustling of my clothes when I shifted my weight from one leg to the other, and the silent, impatient scraping of Ravages claws on the metal floor.

His blood red eyes were glowing full of excitement and concentration while he longingly awaited the climax of this training session. He crouched down, baring his fangs as a low growl escaped his throat. Then, I noticed it as well. Footsteps coming closer, the vibrations of the ground announced their approach to the door. I also made myself smaller, my legs in a steady position, about a meter apart from each other, slightly bend to give me a steadier stand. My hand touched the cool metal floor as my body was prepared for a low start. I could see Ravage eying me up for the fragment of a second, until his mouth angles formed a grin that appeared to glow in the dark. For the first time in my life, I was genuinely terrified by him. But in the second the door slit open, I realized that I was genuinely looking forward to _this_.

With fast, pressing steps, three blue eyed soldiers stormed in, their weapons aimed for every corner of the room, but - to our luck - they were aiming too high. All of them must have been about Breakdown's size, not as bulky though. Their flashlights lightened even the darkest parts of the room as they checked it. Once the last person turned his head away from the door, Ravage charged outside. What had I expected? A sign? Bird noises? No, this was Decepticon training. I couldn't depend on anyone else to rescue me. The adrenalin rushing through my system made me become conscious of all this while Ravage's silhouette disappeared and I realized I had to follow now, otherwise I would die the same death I had last time and I most certainly did not wish for that.

My legs didn't make enough noise to overtone the humming of their weapons which seemed to just be waiting for an opportunity to fire at something. No matter how small the target would be. I ran across the ground just when one of the giants moved their feet and was about to squash me like a bug. Quickly, I threw myself back first on the ground and due to my fast running glided across the floor on my back, escaping death by only a few inches and with some additional bruises. There was no time to recover as I got up and swiftly followed Ravage around the corner.

I propped my arms up on my legs, catching my breath and taking in the fresh blast of adrenalin. It felt superb. I smiled down at Ravage, proud of my achievement, but he completely ignored me. His eyes laid on the next corner, serious and focused. My smile died down. More blue eyes. I should have known.

Ravage charged his gun while his torso pressed me against the wall. I did not dare to move a muscle while I left the scouting to my partner. Never before had I seen him this motionless. Not even his tail moved, like it usually did to balance his body. He stayed like this for about 10 seconds until his optics narrowed and his expression went grim. Now I could make out their footsteps as well. They were more than five. Definitely. And they were heading our way... I had known Decepticon training would be hard but by the pits of Kaon, this was the first level! Suddenly my respect for every Decepticon soldier I knew grew impressively.

Their footsteps came closer and I started to feel trammeled. If we couldn't come past the soldiers without a fight, which I undoubtedly would lose, we had to go back. I turned my head to glance around the corner only to pull it back really fast.

"We're surrounded.", I whispered, the panic in my voice could impossibly go by unnoticed.

Ravage lifted his head and looked at me for a second, the looked behind him. He was thinking of a way out, I knew that much.

**::Suggestion: climb up the wall.::-Ravage**

I swallowed while I stared up at the ceiling. This was impossible. It was a metal wall, nothing I could hold on to except from the metal bars which made up the tiny niche we were hiding in. I could climb those up but one of the groups would notice me. And it was a pretty long way up...

"Any other option?", I asked him, in hope he would have a plan B. His plan B didn't look too rosy though. He turned towards the way we came from and crouched down, ready to attack.

**::Plan: Attack, confuse, run. Ravage:: diversion.::-Ravage**

I lifted my left eyebrow, but instead of arguing, chose to charge my only weapon. With a deep breath I drove my fingers through my hair, pushing it out of my view. My right foot wandered a few inches backwards to give me a secure stand. So this was the plan. We would use the advantage of surprise to attack the three patrolling soldiers we had sneaked away from before. As soon as the opportunity presented itself we would run for our dear lifes and hopefully that would be before the other group of blue eyes would have arrived.

Ravage turned his head towards me, his red eyes showed no fear whatsoever. Then he nodded and without thinking about it, I charged forward. It felt like I was blindly shooting at them but when one of my bullets actually hit its target, I froze. The bot in front of me was melting. _Literally melting._ His body started to rust around the impact whole of the tiny bullet and within seconds he fell apart. The rust mixed with his fluids dribbled down on the ground. The screams of the Autobot were so distorted by agony and terrifyingly real that I forgot this was merely a program. I probably shouldn't ask myself where they had received the audio from...

But it _was _merely a program after all and thus the other Autobots did not think about retreat or waste a single second before charging straight at me. Because with this attack I had made myself the main target. My hands were shaking and my brain told me to get the frag out of there but I was frozen solid. This was just too much to take.

"HEY! There! Intruders!", one of the other group shouted and gone was my hope of actually passing this level. Ravage though did not loose his hope. Or at least he was just too stubborn to even think about losing. With amazing precision he targeted for their spark chambers and now I figured out why this was the first level. Even the tallest of the blue eyes couldn't take in more than three blasts before falling over lifelessly.

Ravage was amazing. Without the slightest fault in his aim, he shot them down one after another. All I was supposed to do was watch his back, I knew that. So I swallowed once and aimed for the second 'bot of the three whose shots hadn't even hit me so far. One good thing about being so tiny: you're a harder target. All I had to do was lift my arm a few inches above my head and fire. And only an instant later, all that was left from my first three opponents was the rusted metal dust covering the hallway.

I was barely able to catch my breath, even though all I had done was lift my arm and pull the trigger. Somehow the thought of this bugged me. I technically just killed three sentient beings, right? Ignoring the fact that they were programs and also Autobots. Something told me, if these Cybertronians had been real, I wouldn't have been able to shoot...

**::Question:What are you doing? Command: Run!::-Ravage**

I turned around. He was standing behind the corner, staring at me, urging me to quickly follow him. It was my fault. I had distracted him by not thinking, not reacting. He had decided to pull me out of my thoughts to help me get further in this training session and I? I could hear the cracking of metal as his frame got tossed against the wall by the blast that hit him. Something was wrong about this though. Their blasts shouldn't have such a strong affect on his armor. The last ones hadn't even had enough firepower to dent the metal in the walls. How was this possible.

"Ravage!", I yelled, rushing over to him. His growl made me pause.

**::Command: Run!::-Ravage**

His legs were shaking as he lifted himself up and pointed his gun towards the two Autobots charging toward us. This time I didn't hesitate. But they were so far away, that it took me three shots to hit one target. The rust feasted on the metal of the ceiling as well as the floor and the other blue eye broke in.

"C'mon!", I shouted, leading the more experienced soldier back the way we came from, only to turn on my heel and run into the opposite direction. I had the bad feeling that we were surrounded once more. Ravage followed me, but he was awfully slow. It took me quite a while to realize that there was energon dripping out from below his shoulder plates. He looked determined with every step and I reminded myself that this training program was just a program. Otherwise I would have freaked out, but this would test and train my reactions in a real war. Ravage was not actually hurt and nothing could actually happen to him.

I jogged forward and glanced around the corners, clearing the area. Finally I realized that this was my chance to get better at fighting and impressing Lord Megatron. This might be my only chance. While I made sure that no Autobots were waiting for us around the corners, Ravage slowly tried to catch up with me. I would have tried to help him, but my medical training with Knock Out hadn't come very far yet, to be honest.

"Are you alright? D'you think you can make it a bit further?", I asked, checking around the next corner as he quietly followed as best as he could, leaving a trace of energon every few inches. I leaned against the wall and patiently waited for him. I wondered how long we had to survive until this level was completed.

With a frown I noticed Ravages gear rattle, as he caught up to me. He must have some internal damage as well. I quickly checked my scanner and when I was certain we wouldn't be ambushed any second, knelt down beside him and gently placed a hand next to his shoulder plate. I had to lift it a bit to get a good look and could feel his body stiffen from the pain.

"It's okay.", I cooed softly as I slid a finger under the plate and carefully checked the sensitive gear. I didn't know if everything was where it should be, but I was confident that I could at least find the broken energon line. I grimaced as I found it, seeing that it was a vital one. Of course I knew it was fixable, but I had no idea how to fix it. So I decided to better not make it any worse than it already was and gently let the plate slit back into position, both my hands blue with energon.

"I think it would be best if we searched you a clear room where you can rest a bit and I'll go and search around for something I can patch you up with. Is that alright?"

**::Training: in Nightbird's interest. Decision: yours to make. Ravage: obeys.::-Ravage**

I took that as a yes, and made my way around the next corner, searching for a place to hide my comrade. It took me a few minutes until I could find a suitable place. My scanners detected the energon signal radiating from the next room, but since the signature wasn't identified as that of a Cybertronian, I figured it was probably just a leaking energon pipe. Those were all around the place if you just looked hard enough.

I helped Ravage reach the room and made sure the door stayed open while he hauled himself inside the room and into the shadows.

"I'll be out looking for supplies or something that might help. You stay put. I haven't figured out yet how my works but I'll come right back when you ask me to. Just tell me when you need me.", I whispered, watching his beautiful red optics glow in the dark. He nodded and slowly laid down onto the ground, just like any normal cat would. I waited another five seconds before quickly leaving the room.

My gun was still charged as I held it up like people in action movies always did. Since I had no experience whatsoever I figured I'd just do what appeared most logical. So I checked room for room, in hope of finding either left behind private quarters, or an abandoned medical bay. No such luck.

After about quarter of an hour of searching and trying to avoid enemy contact, I ran into an Autobot who was in my way. Since I had figured out that too much noise would alert other blue eyes, I decided to try and take him out without him noticing, even though my gun probably wasn't any good for a sniper. I knelt down, peeked around the corner and aimed for his throat. The rust should separate the head from its body in a matter of seconds, at least that was the plan. Unfortunately my aim proofed out to be crap and I hit the spark chamber. Must have been my lucky day, since he didn't even find time to scream until he realized that his spark chamber was being corrupted by rust. The only noise he made was the loud slam as his empty frame hit the ground.

It wasn't that hard this time. I simply reminded myself to not look at the rusting corpse, as I walked past. Focused on my task, I kept searching until I finally, finally found an emergency medical kit in a small room (well small for cybertronians) which only had a berth on the side and a small, broken shelf next to it. The medical kit was located on the ground, it clearly had been plundered already, but a few leftovers like a small patch and a broken syringe were still inside.

The patch was probably a bit bigger than I needed it to be, but I had no means of cutting it. Ravage might have to help me out there. I took my jacket off, picked up the metal patch, which was about as big as my upper body and weighed about 15 kg, and tied my jacket around it. I used the sleeves as a lanyard and made my way back.

Unfortunately I could only barely remember which way I had come from. This place was a Primus damned labyrinth. The energon scanner on my cuff didn't do me much good. Ravages signal was out of range. So I simply tried to remember where I had come from, until...

**::Nightbird: Immediate assistance required::-Ravage**

It wasn't only a message, it sent an SOS homing beacon as well. I started running as good as I could, until I could finally pick up Ravages signature. It was a race around corners, trying to find the right way to reach him. I could hear the shots fired but I couldn't see them. I stood lost, staring at my scanner. He was around her somewhere... And then it came to me and I aimed my gun towards the wall. The entrance whole was tiny but the metal wasn't half as resistant as Cybertronian armor, so my bullet created a giant hole in the wall after less than two seconds.

The scene before me showed about fifteen tall Autobot soldiers standing in a circle around my half dead partner. His claws were tearing grooves into the ground as he growled at the top of his vocal processor, his fangs bared at his enemies, cannon ready to fire again. He was standing in a huge puddle of his own energon, but showed no sign of weakness as his body went into defense mode. The walls around him were torn down, since he had obviously dodged all the shots. Something told me our opponents were getting stronger and much more intelligent by every second.

The blue eye on the far left lifted his gun so that it pointed into the next room, the wall of which had tumbled down during the fight. My eyes widened, the sleeve with the metal patch I was holding slipped out of my fingers and the second I stepped through the hole I had created in order to somehow prevent this shot from hitting its intended target, the shot was fired. The bullet hit the energon line. Ravages optics widened for the fraction of a second until he became illuminated in the bright blue explosion. The blast knocked me off of my feet and against the next wall, more than six meters away from my original location. I shook my head and slowly opened my eyes.

It was easy to see that no one but me had survived this blast. The bodies lay still and the optics were gray. No more signs of any Autobots. And no more signs of any Decepticons either.

**Third POV**

**Seekers Rec room**

The black cybertronian cat watched the screen as the embodiment of curiosity. His head slightly tilted to the side, tail swinging from left to right and back to the left again. Nothing seemed to be able to separate his glowing red optics from the happening on the screen.

A red haired woman walked past his own corpse. She did not glance back at her companion, she appeared to be aware of it merely being a projection. He had never been there, just like she wasn't at this very moment. No one could die in a projection, but what happened to you, you would feel. He watched her, as her hand went up her arm, rubbing her shoulder, which must have made an impact with the wall after the explosion had overpowered her.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now. There was no one left to tell her. Ravage had told her to 'survive' so she would do just that.

About an hour went by until the human ran into another troop of Autobots. She took three of them down and aimed for the third, but as she pulled the trigger she had to realize that even in a program, her ammo was not unlimited. He didn't even turn around as the door to the rec room opened, he was to recessed by the girl's reaction. She froze while the first blast of the Autobots missed her by a whisker, then she ran for it. Ravage swore to Primus he had never seen a human running this fast, and he himself had chased quite a few of them.

"What does she think she is doing?", the air commanders voice reached him, but he still didn't bother turning around. With long steps Starscream made his way over to the berth Ravage was on, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Lord Megatron will not be pleased if he finds out that you two are having unauthorized training sessions...", he hissed, but was too enthralled by watching Nightbird run for dear life to make it sound like a threat. He stepped closer to the control board and pressed a few buttons to view the information on her current training session. She herself had offlined 13 Autobots, most of them though below level 4. Only the last two tailing her at this very moment had crossed the level 5 marker. Still small fry to Starscream or any other respected warrior in the Decepticon ranks, but still impressive for an amateur of her caliber.

At some point, Nightbird had lost the Autobots and was aimlessly walking around the ruins. Starscream knew she was actually trying to make her way through one of the lower units of Praxus, where the not so wealthy inhabitants had lived their lifes until the war had come. With slowly fading interest, the air commander watched the quite realistic ruins of his homeplanet.

"This is boring me.", he simply stated at one point and pressed a few buttons on the screen, only barely payed attention to the threatening growling echoing from the walls. Ravage had no idea what Starscream was up to, but he knew that it would only end in Nightbird having to end her training session earlier than he would have liked.

"Relax kitty, I merely wish to see how long she could survive against a real Autobot.", he purred in a dangerously gentle tone. Ravage would have worried, but he knew that she could not be harmed. At least not physically and that was all that counted.

Thus both Decepticons watched with great excitement as the girl on the screen walked down another empty aisle, until suddenly her scanner went off. The shock was written all over her face and it took Ravage longer than he would have admitted to realize why. That was exactly when she sprinted off and he could hear the wheels spinning and steel scratching on steel as said Autobot drifted around the corner.

Starscream had not only increased the level, he had put a scan along with the original analysis of the skills of a high rated Autobot warrior into her training sessions. Ravage had only once come this far with his training and he had been working in a team with Laserbeak. In the end he had been stuck on the ground with the Autobot Ironhide, but his fate hadn't exactly differed itself from Laserbeak's as the metal bird had fallen to the ground like a piece of scrapmetal. The difference was, that he and Laserbeak had been able to outrun the black giant for quite a while. Nightbird on the other hand had absolutely no chance of outrunning Sideswipe.

He wasn't even in his alt mode as he raced around the corner, using his blades as additional brakes to make it even faster around the corners, his shining, silver face and armor seemed blinding but were nothing compared to the angelic smile. He was laughing while he charged at the desperate redhead, didn't even bother wasting any bullets. She didn't know what hit her as the blade struck from behind.

_**Starscream's POV**_

_**Seeker's rec room**_

Almost immediately after the screen went black, she practically jumped out of her little 'nightmare'. I turned around to her noticing the heavy breathing and a little drop of fluid rolling down her forehead. Disgusting.

"C-commander Starscream? May I ask why you are here at such a time?", she stuttered, quickly getting up. Not that it would have changed anything. She was still rather small and pitiful, even though I had to admit that she had held her own a lot better than he had expected. Of course he was not going to tell her that.

"I should ask you that. _I_ have come because I heard noises in here after I had just returned from energon scouting. Now to your part of the story."

"Ravage and I have been training since my last and also first training session yesterday ended after only a few minutes and I thought a bit practice would help. Ravage offered me his assistance in this matter.", she answered in a sweet and obedient way.

"Does Lord Megatron know about this?", I asked harshly. I had no problem with reporting this incident to him. Either he would punish Nightbird for disobeying like I would, or he would simply shrug it off. At any rate, it wouldn't turn out against my favor so I had nothing to loose.

"No, commander Starscream." And that was it. No begging me to not tell him, no explanation, no apology and as if that hadn't been enough, she looked me straight in the optics and smiled as if to say '_I know you won't tell_'. Knock Out's little abomination was sassy. I liked that.

"You will come back here right after sunrise. I wish to personally test how far you might come with a professional squad. Don't come late, I have no intention of repeating my offer. Now leave."

And suddenly, her smile shrunk down to a smirk as she jumped down the berth and left the room with a "Yes, Commander.". Oh I had already figured her out. There was respect and fear of me in her voice, but she must have heard me talk to Lord Megatron or someone else that mad her think raising herself to my level would bring her any points in liking. And I had to admit with gritted teeth that her little plan worked.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Okay, so that was it. The next chapter will have a tiny bit more dialogue than this one and you'll get to figure out who good old Nightbird's tutor is going to be. He's already on his way after all. Does anyone have a guess? I'd love to know ;D <em>**

**_Please leave a Review if you have a spare second. And also feel free to leave your opinions on the trailer for Transformers: age of extinction. I'd love to know what you guys think about it :D_**

**_'Till next time!_**


	17. Training

Again apologies that I haven't updated for so long. School has kept me pretty busy but I'm back! ^-^ And I hope I won't take too long till the next update.

Thanks to Hikari Nova for betaing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it

* * *

><p>1 klik~1km<p>

1 astrosecond ~ 1 minute

* * *

><p>He stood in the door frame of her quarters, looking down at the bundle of blankets with the small red head cuddled up in between. Every few seconds her muscles would twitch, her brows would furrow, her lips part in a sigh and an incomprehensible murmur. Knock Out recalled how he had always held her close during her nightmares, mumbling comforting words to the toddler and stroking her hair. On those days, the fear had been without a reason and the monsters were just thought up, furry creatures hiding in closets and under beds. Back then, all he had to do was check and show her that there was nothing to be afraid of. How could he do that now, when those monsters had stopped being imaginary?<p>

With silent steps he entered the room and knelt down in front of her make shift bed. He would need to do something about this soon. It wasn't up to her standards. A long, slim digit started caressing her back and he watched her relax and lean into the touch. Her eyes slowly flickered open and she smiled up at him.

"Time to wake up. The sun will rise in approximately 28.7 minutes. Starscream wouldn't approve if you were late."

"Mmmh. Sure.", Nightbird mumbled, driving her fingers through her messy curls. She continued to stare into the nothingness for another few seconds until her drowsy expression changed into a frown. "Wait a sec. How did you...?"

"Starscream informed me. It's simple protocol, really. As medic of the ship I need to know who is out on a mission and also who is out for training and when. That makes my work a lot easier, if one of the soldiers collapses from an untreated injury or malfunction. But you should actually know that already.", the Decepticon calmly explained, holding out a digit to help her get off the berth. Nightbird waved it off.

"No, actually I'm still struggling with seeker technology."

"The wings?", Knock Out asked with slight amusement and only little interest.

"Nope. Still bonds and neurocircuitry...", she mumbled with a frown and strode over to her bag of clothes. He let out a chuckle.

"Just wait until you get to the wings, Sweetspark. The stuff about neurocircuitry you'll learn is like a 'piece of cake' compared to that.", he tried to joke, but it was half-hearted and he chose to leave before she could notice.

When the door closed behind him he clutched at his chest plates right above his sparkchamber. An aching pain like dozens of blades seemed to pierce his spark and he knew in a few breems his processor as well. But he chose to ignore the panic that was threatening to rise. He had to stay strong for her. If this didn't work out, she was doomed. If it did, she would be perhaps even more so.

"Y'alright there, doc?"

Knock Out straightened and lifted his head to meet Breakdowns gaze. The towering mech gave him a mustering glance, but decided to stay back and not to force an honest answer.

"Yes.", Knock Out snapped back, knowing full-well that the panic in his torn-up eyes was fairly well visible to his long-time partner. Especially if said partner could read him like an open book.

"I talked to Thundercracker.", Breakdown said, once more catching the medics attention. Thundercracker was well-known to be the 'warm-hearted' one of the trine. Well at least as close as they could get to that. He was one of the few mechs who refused to kill a defenseless enemy. Although Starscream's ruthlessness made up for his lack thereof in the trine.

"About what?", Knock Out retorted dumbly although his processor had already made the connection.

"You know slaggin' well about what. He said he won't promise anything but at least he'll keep it clean. Y'know, keep Starscream and Skywarp from intentionally ending her sessions earlier. Not sure if you'll be able to call it teamwork though, with Starscream as leader...", Breakdown mumbled and waited until Knock Out joined him and they walked to the med-bay together. Knock Out more subconsciously than anything and Break down with a weary eye on his partner. He'd noticed something was off with him these last few weeks, maybe even months, but he'd never been the best at making a diagnosis.

"Starscream is a good leader. Narcissistic and with an insatiable hunger for power, but fair and skilled. He wouldn't sabotage someone who is no threat to him.", the medic replied. That much was true, he had faith in the second in command. After all, there was a reason it had always been him who came second for the Decepticon cause. For a coward, he was the only one next to Optimus Prime who willingly took on Megatron on his own. Over and over again.

Nightbird rushed past them, giving Breakdown's foot a quick pat in the process. In response the warrior kicked her forward a few feet and earned a delighted chuckle.

"I'll come by your quarters later.", he promised and she disappeared around the corner.

"And you call yourself war-hardened.", Knock out snorted with a mocking grin. It took his partner a moment to look down at him, but he didn't do so with a smile.

"I may not be the smartest, but even I can see what kind of a mess you're riding us into. Or maybe you already have. Even the most optimistic outcome of this can't be a good one for her. It'd probably be something quick. Even if we hid her, Megatron's eyes are everywhere. I don't think we can get her out of here anymore."

"We?"

Breakdown smiled back now. He was aware that Knock Out had never valued their friendship as much as he had, but he wouldn't let something like that take him down. Of course, he was a war-hardened mech and a Decepticon warrior, but that didn't make him sparkless. He'd always kind of wanted offspring, like just about everyone else, but with the war those thoughts became less and less of a possibility and more and more of a distant fantasy. Nightbird was probably as close to it as he'd ever get and with all honesty, playing uncle had been the best decision of his time.

_Flashback_

"What the frag _is_ that?"

"_That_ my dear partner, is a sparkling."

They had met up just outside the city because Knock Out had insisted on 'showing him something'. This had not been among Breakdown's calculated possibilities. Heck an Autobot insignia on Knock Out's aft had been on the list, but _this_?

"I can see that. But why is it in your interior?", the blue car snapped back. He would have doubted his partner's sanity had he not already known that the vain mech had more than a few screws loose.

"Where else is it supposed to be? Strapped to my roof? Don't be ridiculous. Come on, you always were a sucker for sparklings."

The warrior roared his engine in annoyance and had to keep himself from leaving tire marks on the road, when his by anger clouded processor suddenly caught on to something.

"Even more were you, b-but that's a _human_!", he gasped, stressing the last word as if nothing were more vile to him.

"Of course _she's_ a human, you can of bolts. That's why _she_ needs to be in my interior." If Breakdown hadn't known better he would have thought that the medic's voice went soft, nearly gentle there for a klik.

"Lord Megatron's orders are getting weirder with time if you ask me... Knock Out, this was one of Megatron's orders wasn't it?"

"Terribly fragile creatures, these humans. Without any sort of natural defense system. Years after their creation they still heavily, if not wholly depend on their creator.", He rambled, but there was definitely an odd gentleness to his tone.

"What have you done?!", Breakdown just about screamed at him, making the red sports car jump on it's axes lightly.

"I... she was so helpless.", he whispered, seeming to realize what a mistake he had made, but still not quite coming to his senses.

"They are all helpless!", Breakdown kept pushing, inching closer and closer to the sports car. He knew where this was heading. Breakdown would get to dispose of Knock Out's little weak spot while he raced with some of the pathetic creatures down in the desert to cool off his processor.

"She is different though. She didn't even realize what was going to happen, or even the slaughter around here! It reminded me of..."

"Of what?", Breakdown snarled impatiently.

"Praxus."

Praxus. He didn't mean the once glorious city of course, he meant the fall of it. The war had already been going on for some time and the Decepticons had been known for even longer. Knock Out had at the time been one of the neutral medics, wandering from town part to town part with a small group of others. As it just so happened they had come across the bombed and burned down Youth and Education institutions for sparkborn younglings as well as sparklings of the Autobot fraction. Not that the fraction would have mattered to them, they themselves were fractionless after all and saw it as their duty, their calling to help the remaining offspring. They weren't meant for battle, and had no means of protecting the young ones inside as the Decepticons came. And as in any war, medics were rare. Especially when most were either pacifists and neutrals, or Autobots. Although opposed to fighting, all mechs and femmes bravely took their last stand. To their surprise, none of them had met immediate death that day. They had all been lined up in front of the commanding officer of the group of red-opticed beasts and asked one question.

_'Do you swear everlasting loyalty and subservience to the Decepticon cause and it's almighty leader, Lord Megatron?' _

And not a single one of them had accepted. And as one after the other had their processors blown out of their heads, the last in line gingerly lifted a shaking servo.

_'Do you swear everlasting loyalty and subservience to the Decepticon cause and it's almighty leader, Lord Megatron?'_

_'Yes.'_ And the medic, who was known to be a bot of many words, even if sometimes unnecessary ones, couldn't bring himself to choke out another tone as he listened to the sudden outcries of the helpless beings held inside the institution behind him and after only a few moments, their dying out. He had to avert his optics as the many Ex-Gladiators returned to their superior officer, their armor painted with splashes of blue. His spark had clenched in disgust and hatred towards these mechs and towards himself.

He was pulled up by a strong arm on his shoulder and felt the paint there scratch and the faded red mix with spatters of warm blue liquid. On the whole way back to the Decepticon territory he kept his head down, not daring to even take a glimpse into his future. He was afraid, cowardly afraid. Had been so since the beginning of the war. Back then, with a shimmer of hope, he had decided to stay fractionless, stay a neutral, be spared. Now with that shimmer crushed beneath the weight of his helpless spark he couldn't bring himself to find that bit of courage that everyone else seemed to have. As a coward, he fled to the winning side.

"It's not like... There is no... Why would this..." Several times now had Breakdown started but broken off at the beginning of his sentence. His partner had never been as convinced of the cause as he had, had never experienced the arena, the mines. Never seen the suffering and true oppression of the Iaconian iron hand out of the eyes of a servant classed. A red optic. Breakdown had been a part of this from the start, had been working in the mines for hundreds of vorns and had fought a handful of matches in the arena, never losing once until the Decepticons arose and had brought hope upon their whole cast. He had followed out of hope, Knock Out out of fear and as a medic, he was so much further in this than most other bots could be in their darkest nightmares.

He sighed, watching as the little creature contently wrapped her arms around the steering wheel. Actually, it did remind him of a sparkling in it's first from. Clumsy, helpless and, Primus forbid, so naïve!

"What do we do with her?"

The slight humming of Knock Out's engine fell silent and the human child ceased her little play as well, becoming wary of the missing noise which had given reassuring comfort like the steady heartbeat of a mother.

"We?", he asked and Breakdown could have hit him with his hammer. The narcissistic egomaniac with apparently no other worries than his finish, still didn't think their eon-long friendship was worth more than the regular buffing he received from Breakdown. In some ways, the medic and graduate of the Praxian academy was slower in understanding than his low-class, mine-bot friend whom he had had to teach reading and writing simple kaonian and whose spelling mistakes he shrugged off like they were the most common thing on earth. Even when said friend was the least educated mech on the whole warship. When would Knock Out understand that their friendship was based on more or less mutual affection and not simply a partnership within the medical bay?

"Yeah."

The little creature with red fur all over her head had her servos and face pressed up against the window of the sports car and Breakdown was impressed by the amount of tolerance the medic showed her. He wasn't quite sure what it was about this human. Maybe those for her face by far too large optics, or her absolute lack of fear when it came to talking cars. Or maybe it was just the fact that Knock Out had just told him that this was his way of making up his mistakes to Primus. As if the survival of one alien sparkling could make up for the death of those thirty-six in Praxus that had died without his protection.

"Like I said, you always have been a sucker for sparklings.", Knock Out snickered and revved his engine. In response to his voice, the little flesh-bag bared a set of incomplete, white denta and let out a squeal. Yes, he would have to give her that. For a flesh-bag she was adorable.

_Flashback ends_

* * *

><p><strong>Nightbird's POV<strong>

_I'm on time. I'm on time. I'm on time!_, I cheered internally as I turned around the corner and slipped through the door, just to stand in the shadow of a towering blue seeker.

"I'm late?!", I blurted out, promptly shutting my mouth as he turned around, looking puzzled for a moment.

"Hmm? Oh no. I'm just setting up everything so that we can start as soon as Commander Starscream comes in. Skydive and I take turns with this.", Thundercracker replied and turned back to work on setting up the cables. I hummed in understanding and walked to stand next to him, looking up at what he was doing. With gentle fingers he uncurled the different cables and plugged each on one end into the computer stationed to his left. The other end was carried to the three separate berths and unceremoniously left there.

"Can I help with anything?", I asked, feeling a bit useless just standing off to the side. My hair was up in a ponytail, so I didn't have to blow away the strands that tended to fall into my vision, but I still had to shove a couple of loose ones over my head.

"Erm, yes actually. You can try and figure out where the port is on your cuff. The doc left a special cable here for you but he didn't tell me where to plug it in." He scratched one of the sensors on the back of his head. I'd read about that. When Cybertronians itched, they usually got sand or dust into their gears or on their sensors. The manual movement of the plating right above those spots sometimes got rid of it. In other words, Thundercracker should use the wash racks.

Immediately after, he handed me a slim cabled, just about as thick as my thumb, which was really delicate to them. I took it from his hand, careful not to touch his protoform. I hadn't interacted much with the seekertrine yet and since everyone seemed to have a different level of tolerance when it came to skin on metal contact, I didn't want to risk anything. After playing around with my cuff for a few moments, successfully finding the little port, I figured out the big difference between Thundercracker and the rest of the Decepticon crew stationed on the warship. He was _really_ nice.

"Oh, uhm, don't plug it in yet. The system is already online and we still need to wait for Skywarp and Commander Starscream.", he said, his optics locked onto my again, but avoiding eye contact, like they all did with Ravage. Like they told you to not keep eye contact with an animal, or you could upset it. I had to smile at the thought.

"Besides, you should probably know a couple of things before we start. For instance the fact that none of us is allowed to die. Well, none of us seekers, since we're a trine and the death of one of us in battle would render the rest of us useless. I'm not sure how it is about you...

"Anyway, our training will be a lot harder than yours has been and it's actually more about strategy and tactics than honing our skills. So you won't have to face an enemy in hand to hand combat...Uhm." From his awkward stare he seemed to notice that hand to hand combat wasn't exactly a good place for me to be in anyway.

Fortunately for Thundercracker, that was the moment when the door slid open and Commander Starscream, followed by Skywarp entered the room and both went straight for the berths. Skywarp gave me a curious but otherwise slightly disgusted look while Commander Starscream straight out ignored me, which wasn't that bad since he ignored Thundercracker and Skywarp as well. They both lay down on a berth and connected themselves to the system via the cables. Immediately their frames grew limp.

There was only one berth left and, acknowledging the fact that I wasn't in the place to claim that berth for myself I strode into the lonely corner of the room, sat down and plugged myself in.

It was a weird experience and I doubted I'd ever get used to my conscience being sucked out of my body and placed in a software. It felt like an alternate reality.

"Alright, then. Looks like we're somewhere in Six Lasers.", Commander Starscream stated as he looked around. I noticed Thundercracker had just appeared as well, as if he'd been beamed here, slowly manifesting from a whirl of blue particles in the air.

"Uh! I remember this! Skywarp used to drag me on there when we were in our third frames!", Thundercracker blurted out happily, his wings twitching as he pointed at a giant ferris wheel. The London eye looked the size of a single wagon of this thing. The rollercoasters were quite similar in size, though a lot of them were missing pieces of their tracks and their once probably shiny metal was black and dull and sometimes even began to rust in spots, which had to mean something, since Cybertronian metal took a very long time to rust and that only if it was exposed to terrible circumstances for a long time. Just the thought of how it must have looked like back in the golden age, when it was full of life and light and had made it's name justice made me stare upwards in awe.

"I'm picking up three signals about four kliks due north. We should seek cover and figure out a plan.", Skywarp replied, after shoving Thundercracker out of his way. It would have looked rude, had his wings not twitched playfully afterwards. Commander Starscream nodded once, still eying the area suspiciously before he jerked his head to his left and we moved after him. I had to run after them, feeling soft-footed and silent like Ravage in comparison to the thundering of their footsteps. I was about as fast as them, since they were trying to be silent, which made me proud. I cowered at the entrance of the 'little' pay booth which was about the best cover we could get around here, since there weren't any tall buildings or broader walls and most of the rubble seemed too unstable to seek shelter underneath.

"The signals aren't air-born, so we're at an advantage. One of us will have to lure them out into a more open space than they are now and the others can attack. Nightbird, Knock Out informed me you have a rather lethal weapon?"

All heads turned to me as Commander Starscream spoke and I nodded, took it off my belt and had it link with my cuff to show him. "It's got a limited amount of shots, but if well placed, one shot is enough to take down a blue-optic. The bullets are filled with a fast oxidating serum which acts similar to the cybonic plaque only much faster and only stoppable if the infected body part is either separated from the body immediately or if it's shot with another serum, which is unfortunately still in development."

Skywarp nodded thoughtfully at my explanation and I quickly added a "...Commander Starscream." to my sentence. He ignored it and turned to Skywarp.

"You'll act as a decoy while we wait. I take it it's not a long-range weapon?", he asked, only slightly hopeful as he turned towards me once more, but I knew that he could work without one. As long as Seekers had wings, there was no stopping them. Not even a lack of weaponry or armor.

"I can shoot out of a distance of about 1.5 kliks, but I don't have a visor for that sort of distance. My aim isn't good enough yet, but I can manage quarter of a klik.", I answered truthfully, admitting to my need of improvement and reattaching the gun to my belt. He simply nodded.

"That should be enough. Thundercracker, get her to a higher location. You'll act as our sniper, Nightbird. The plan is to lure them towards you if they put up too much of a fight. Especially if they're Wreckers or bolder mechs. If not, Thundercracker, Skywarp and I will deal with them. Nightbird, you're on the look out. Inform us of any signals and any movement, in case the Autobots are using some sort of cloaking technology."

Then he ran off, transformed and sped away with Skywarp on his tail. Thundercracker offered me a hand, awkwardly trying to be gentle. It was nice, really, after being used to rough treatment from giants, that there was someone else beside Breakdown and Knock Out who were actually concerned about hurting me. He lifted his hand towards his cockpit and slid it open, allowing me to slide in and awkwardly position myself legs first in the 90° off seat. Perhaps he should have transformed to begin with, but I wasn't going to say anything, as I tightened the belt around my chest and the cockpit closed above me.

He took off in a light jog for a few steps to transform and rise up into the air. I couldn't keep my mouth closed. I had never been flying before and the grace and certainty of every little movement with which Thundercracker sliced through the air like a sharp knife, left me gaping with awe. We were now high above ground and I could see much further, past the ferris wheels and the roller coasters to a skyline with huge towers and one of the moons right behind it. I gulped.

"Is that...?"

"Iacon, yeah. Probably still before it was destroyed. These aren't just programmings, you know? These are real actual recordings of the places, some time during the war...", he explained as if it were the most exciting thing and let himself float to the side, closer to one of the ferris wheels.

"Like Google Earth.", I muttered to myself, still looking around. He didn't answer me and I didn't expect him to. He wouldn't know what Google Earth was anyways and this was obviously far more advanced. Like the virtual reality version or something like that.

"Think you can jump out?", he asked suddenly and I looked out of the cockpit, trying to figure out what was beneath me. On one hand I didn't want to be too dependent on him, on the other hand it would be stupid to just jump when there could be a twenty feet drop, since Thundercracker didn't know how much I could handle. Fortunately it was less than an eight feet drop onto one of the wagon's roofs. I lifted myself out of his cockpit and jumped off, avoiding to touch his wings since I knew how sensitive they were. My joints protested slightly as I landed on the hard metal surface but it was manageable. I gave him a curt nod and set up my weapon as well as checking on my cuff for signals of any sort. Our's were cloaked, Decepticon signals always were, but only to Autobots. If you had the correct frequency and codes, it was no problem, so that we could find each other.

**::We've got two mechs down searching the wreckage and a femme scouting a bit further west.::** Skywarp reported and my eyes followed the three dots on my radar he was probably talking about. There was a forth dot right next to them but high up in the air, out of their shooting range. The blue-optics would have noticed him though.

**::Good. Lure them out, I'm coming in.:: **Commander Starscream replied and I could see his signal moving towards them from behind. They would try to shoo them into my direction, if not take them out entirely.

The roof of the wagon I was on was easily big enough for four mechs of Knock Out's size, so I lay down on my stomach near the edge and looked down. And what a drop it would be if I were to fall. The Empire State building was a joke against this! And I was only about half way up! The ferris wheel was still so much higher! I was pretty sure that this was more than quarter a klik. Slowly I pushed myself a little bit further away from the ledge.

It didn't take too long until the two mechs were out of their cover and rapidly firing at Skywarp and Starscream, who always seemed to be dancing out of the bullets way in the last second, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to them. Skywarp seemed to be so delighted that he even made a few loops and let himself swing from one side to the other. Commander Starscream preserved himself a bit more dignity.

As soon as the bolder of the two mechs was in firing range I placed the gun on the ledge and leaned forwards, aiming for the big bot. Fortunately, bots were far easier targets than humans and I simply had to aim for the biggest part of his body. I needed to try and make this shot count though. There was no point in proving Commander Starscream then and there that I was no use as a sniper. It wasn't like I had shot for the first time. I had steady hands, good eyesight and my target wasn't exactly small. Essentially like hitting one of the inner rings of a dart board.

So I followed the bots movement and when he stopped to look up at the Seekers who had so suddenly vanished, I pulled the trigger. The gun seemed louder than I had expected it, but this planet was dead. There was no one here to make any noise except from the three targets and us. The seekers were gone and left was the single flying bullet which was about to completely miss it's target and show my utter and sheer uselessness to the seekertrine, had Skywarp not decided to warp right into it's path and fall out of the sky like a rock in his bi-pedal form.

"Fraggin' piece of scrap in an oil filled rust tank", he shouted as the rust ate it's way up his arm, that was until Starscream appeared out of seemingly nowhere and tore his arm off.

I thought I didn't see right as he stood back to back with Skywarp, guns raised at head level with the Autobot warrior.

**::You slaggin' pile of... what was that for 'Scream?!::-Skywarp**

**::I had to. You were hit by the serum, there was no other way.:: **the Commander answered and I tried to adjust the sequence, because he did not just cackle, did he?

**::I'll show you 'no other way' 'Scream. Just you wait.:: **Skywarp responded darkly and raised his other arm, to aim.

That was when I finally snapped out of it. I tried to adjust my aim this time, remembering how much I had been off with the last shot and trying to correct my position so that I'd hit a blue-optic this time. I pulled the trigger in the exact same moment as the Autobot lifted his weapon at Commander Starscream. All optics flickered into my approximate direction as the shot hit and boy did it hit. Straight through the head and I looked like a pro.

I'm not sure what I had expected. Maybe a standing ovation or at least a contented smile but Commander Starscream merely turned around, fired a missile at the femme who was getting closer and shoved Skywarp into the air. The purple mech depended solely on his boosters and tried getting out of the cross-fire which the last standing mech offered. I was just about to try out my luck again and focus on him when an engine noise caught my attention. At first I thought it must have been Thundercracker, but then the noise grew louder and I realized there was more than one. I tilted my head to the side, listening just to be sure. Yup, definitely not Thundercracker.

So I turned around into the direction of the noise and could barely make out two shadows against the darkening sky. I turned to look at my cuff, but there was nothing on my radar. This must be the cloaking technology Commander Starscream mentioned before.

**::Two Air-born signals coming in from west. I can only get a visual, they're using cloaking technology.:: **I commed. and less than a second later Thundercracker replied.

**::Two more from the east and one from the south.::-Thundercracker**

Starscream fired another missile at the blue-optic and transformed, muttering curses under the noise, before quickly forming a plan. **::Scrap, they're trying to herd us towards Iacon. Don't fall back. Stand your ground. Skywarp, Nightbird; take those from the west. Thundercracker, cover the south. I'll tend to the rest.::**

And suddenly Skywarp was in the air next to me, one arm sparking, the other transformed into a cannon. He was several feet from me away as to not pull any attention to his back-up. I swiftly got up and hid myself behind one of the poles that connected the wagon to the rest of the structure. Skywarp began to fire and I peeked around the corner.

**::Stay behind cover! I'll tell you when one's close enough.::** he hissed at me through the and I waited, heart thrumming against my ribcage. It took thirteen shots from Skywarp in total until he shouted out to me and I came out of hiding. I would have been an idiot to miss now, the target was about to land on the same roof as I stood on, which in turn meant something rather bad for me, as the rust didn't only eat its way through the mechs armor and spark, but also through the, in comparison to said armor, rather thin metal of the wagon's roof.

I shrieked at the cracking noises of the metal and bolted for the pole, since jumping off the wagon was out of the question. The drop to the next roof alone was enough to kill me and I wasn't exactly trusting on anyone to catch me. So I tried making my way somehow up the pole, which meant I had to dislodge the weapon from my cuff and place it back on my belt, which for one took longer than it should have and for the other rendered me defenseless. Somehow I managed to get onto a horizontal piece of the structure where, for once, my size actually came in handy in a world full of giants. Keeping my balance up here was not a problem, I would have done a cartwheel, if that hadn't been utterly inappropriate at the moment.

**::Flesh-bag! What the frag! Back-up!:: **Skywarp shouted and I could already see how he wouldn't be able to hold himself in the air much longer. But there was nothing I could do! The fraggin' blue-optic just moved to fast around Skywarp and I couldn't just accidentally shoot him _again_!

**::I can't! Chances I hit you are too high, he's moving to fast.::-Nightbird**

**::I've got Silverbolt on my end guys.::-Thundercracker ** I wasn't familiar with the name, but it seemed to be enough for the Commander.

**::Fireflight's down, still working on Skydive. Regroup at Skywarps location and team up.::-Starscream**

And within seconds and a loud ear-shattering blast from Thundercrackers arrival, Skywarp received the back-up he had asked for. I knelt down to get a steadier aim and fired a couple of bullets at one rather vivid flyer who didn't even seem to notice as he dodged them. As if it were his usual flying style.

**::Forget Slingshot! Concentrate attacks on Silverbolt!::- Starscream**

I didn't even get the chance to ask who Silverbolt was, when suddenly everything went black. My head felt like it was being blended and my breathing was ragged when my eyes shot open. Did I get hit? Was it over? But it had gone so well!

"What the frag?!", Skywarp blurted out and the presence of three growling, obviously pissed-off seekers was enough proof that this was not my fault. At least no directly.

"Starscream, Lord Megatron needs your trine to guide the new arrival to the ship.", Airachnid stated annoyed and turned to Skywarp with a broad smile. One of her talons scratched his paint right where Starscream had torn his arm off. So apparently she had been watching for a while already. The seeker pushed her away with a snarl and jumped off the berth, following his leader out of the room with swift steps.

"You should probably get to the command center, if you don't want Lord Megatron to send Soundwave to personally retrieve you." I bit back my comment about how I would have preferred that and curled up the small cable I had been attached to. The clatter of her spider legs on the metal floor warned me that she was slowly creeping up on me. I finished tidying up my own share of cables and walked past her. She had shown me her 'collection' a few weeks ago and albeit I thought it had been interesting, I wasn't all that keen on learning the what and how's concerning it.

Lucky me, she didn't seem to be in the mood to follow me around. Instead she stayed and laughed at something I couldn't see, but I could still hear her when I had turned around the corner. Creepy.

"Oh good. Just whom I needed.", Knock Out called out and knelt down next to me.

"Look, in a few astroseconds you will meet a high ranked officer of the Decepticon cause, whom Lord Megatron had come here to personally train you. He is quite... 'by the book' so to speak. Treat him with as much respect as you do Commander Starscream, if not more, since he is allowed to take rather... drastic measure during your training. Try to stay on his good side.", Knock Out murmured into my direction, just as the door to the command center opened and a very tall, blue-gold painted mech stepped in. On the contrary to Starscream, his wings appeared stiff, like they either could not move at all or his discipline was strong enough to keep them from moving, even as he walked.

Knock Out got up and I bowed my head lightly, knowing that no one except from Lord Megatron was to be knelt before. I waited until his steps subsided to look back up again and meet his scrutinizing gaze. Heavy steps of Lord Megatron from behind me caused me to move to the side quickly and make way for him as he walked past and stood tall before the Seeker. His voice was as joyful as it could sound, as if he were greeting an old friend.

"Ah, Dreadwing. Welcome aboard!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>I kinda love Thundercracker... I've planned a rather neat part in this story for him as well. <strong>_

_**Someone guessed Shockwave would be her mentor. Would be interesting as well, but don't worry, like THundercracker he also has a pretty big part to play. **_

_**Please leave a Review, they're the greatest motivation. :)**_


	18. Change

_**Hello my darlings! I'm sorry that this took a bit longer again but I'll do my best with keeping the updates on a more regular level from now on. **_

_**As an apology, this one is a bit longer and it has a bit of time skipping in it, but I want to get to a certain point in this story, because I know that a lot of you are looking forward to the finally having the Autobots in this. Just give me a few chapters more, but maybe we'll even make it by Christmas;)**_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

_Vorn = 83 years_

* * *

><p>"Ah, Dreadwing. Welcome aboard!"<p>

Lord Megatron had greeted him like an old friend, put a hand on his shoulder and proudly introduced him to his second in command Starscream, chief in communications; Soundwave and at last, chief medic and only medic of the warship; Knock Out. The seeker, or Captain Dreadwing, as I was to adress him, had a deep voice and an aura of authority which even outclassed Soundwave's. He seemed to regard Airachnid with a disdainful look until he turned back to Lord Megatron. I wondered if those two had a history of some sorts.

"It is my pleasure to be back under your direct command, my Lord. I exist solely to serve you." he said solemnly and knelt down before our master.

Lord Megatron was visibly pleased and declared his arrival a great benefit to their cause. After which he ordered all but three of his Decepticons to return to their posts. Knock Out and I were to remain to be properly introduced and briefed. And oddly enough, also Starscream who moved over to stand to Megatrons right, slightly behind him.

"Dreadwing, you have been summoned here for a reason." Lord Megatron began slowly and I tried to keep my back straight as their optics fell upon me, mustering me through and through. Knock Out with a professional coolness, behind which I knew he hid worry. He was good at hiding such things while under pressure. Good at _lying_ under pressure. Starscream seemed thoughtful and slightly disgusted while Megatron grinned down at me with something akin to pride. Not the sort that I wished to bring him, but like a lion who had found a particularly fast antelope that would prove fun to play with. Dreadwing seemed to notice that too and looked from his master down at my in comparison tiny form, in subtle curiosity.

"_Prepare her. I want to see how far she can be pushed."_

I wasn't quite sure why he had suddenly switched to an Iaconian accent. Everyone on the warship spoke the normal, Decepticon dialect, which held only small grammatical and vocabulary differences to kaonian. Kaon hadn't been Decepticon capital without a reason after all. So why did he suddenly switch the language? Everyone in the room could speak Iaconian fluently. It made no sense.

It took me a few seconds to actually realize though what he was telling Dreadwing there. Basically it meant… was he… he wanted to see at what point I would _die_?

Dreadwing's gaze lowered itself again, optics darkening as he gave a stiff nod. I shot a glance in Knock Out's direction, taking in his form standing tall like a statue, despite being the smallest of them. His gaze was cold and directed at Lord Megatron with what could only be described as pure hatred. Lord Megatron did not seem to care.

"Make her worth my while." he growled, switching back to kaonian and turned around to face the big screens showing the surroundings of the warship, acting like a window. It was a clear sign for all of us to leave him to his thoughts.

I bowed my head as Captain Dreadwing walked past me and I quickly set off to following him. What happened with Knock Out after that, I don't know. I didn't think about looking back to meet his worried optics that day.

My mind was entirely focused on Captain Dreadwing as he strode over to the groundbridge control center and set coordinates for a place which seemed to be pretty far from our current position. I didn't object or ask any questions though as I followed him through the vortex of blue and green.

Oddly enough I couldn't tell if I had been right with my premonition or not. He had taken us into the middle of a forest, leafs turning a soft maroon and different shades of yellow in the fresh autumn wind. Considering that I was only wearing a tank top with the black leather jacket that had become the equivalent to my uniform in the last couple of weeks, I doubted this would be to my advantage. I wondered what kind of training he was going for…

"Run around the mountain." was everything I got from him, when I had finally come to a stand before him. He seemed slightly bored and presumably also annoyed at the fact that he had to 'put up' with me, something which he hid rather well behind an authoritative command and straight face plates.

I looked up at the mountain which was still a couple of hundred meters away and I didn't even want to guess how long it would take me to _run_ around it. Usually I considered myself to be a fit person and had no problem with a little running, but this looked like a marathon! On top of that, I usually didn't do my exercise in jeans.

"With all due respect, captain Dreadwing, but I had expected my training to consist of fighting, not running."

"You're species has very limited stamina, even after a complete power-down cycle you would require a significant amount of 'breaks' to recuperate from a simple training unit. A simple task like running will help me calculate that stamina and how much training is necessary until you can be put on duty." He replied coolly and I took in a deep breath. Simple task, huh?

Suddenly the seeker captain transformed and the air from his boosters knocked me over onto my backside while he hovered over me. "I advise you to start running, fleshling. Disobeying orders will have dire consequences. Especially for one of _your_ making."

I gave a curt nod in his direction and started heading slightly to the left of the mountain. It wasn't easy on the uneven ground without proper running gear but I hadn't exactly been given a choice. The steady humming of a jet engine was a constant reminder and also quite a good motivator to keep going. Sometimes it came from behind me and sometimes from my right but I couldn't bring up enough courage to look up a second time, after I had tripped and nearly fallen face first into the ground at my first attempt. Now the knees of my jeans as well as my palms were dirty and wet and my arms were full of tiny scratches from random branches and thorned plants that had stood in my way.

To be fair, I managed a pretty decent run. It wouldn't have been half as decent had my pursuer not flared his engine every once in a while when I had become too slow for his taste, or went in the wrong direction, after trying to avoid a larger area full of thorny scrub. My heart was beating like that of a chased bunny, which was a pretty good comparison considering the size difference between the captain and me.

After less than an hour of burning legs and lungs, which I would have loved to complain to Knock Out about, I could see little dots coming up and slowly clouding my vision. The sound of the jet engine was being drowned out, as if I were under water and the world started spinning. I skidded to a halt and brace my arms on my thighs, breathing heavily. Out of the corner of my eyes I thought I could see him transform some ten, twenty maybe more, maybe less metres away. The wildlife in close range rushed to make an escape. A deep voice rumbled something before I threw up my breakfast in the least dignified way possible.

Thanks to one of the nearby trees, I didn't fall into the mess on the ground, despite my trembling legs. My fingers were weakly clawing their way into the moss-covered bark while the dizziness and the sudden nausea ebbed away. I wouldn't be able to go much further, I knew that and apparently captain Dreadwing knew that too. It wasn't his hand though that sneaked its way around my torso.

"Up you go." A well-known voice murmured and I was lifted upwards. Breakdown. He shifted me from his right hand to his left and placed me on his upturned palm, fingers cradled so that I wouldn't fall. I rested my back against his thumb.

"Where's Knock Out?" I mumbled weakly, still dizzy from the end of my apparently 'simple' task. Talking moved the terrible taste of bile from the back to the front of my mind and made me grimace.

"Mission.", he grunted in response. The big guy was probably sulking because he wasn't with his partner.

"Oh. I screwed up again?" I asked, trying not to sound too disappointed but I was pretty sure he was having none of it.

"Nah." Was everything I got for a response. How convincing. At least he left it at that.

For a brief moment during which we entered the ground bridge, I wondered where the Captain was. But when we left it and entered the warship I could hear him strut out of the ground bridge control room, taking the heartbeat of a chased rabbit away with him. Now that I was in Breakdown's hands, I felt safe again.

With utter caution, he let me slide down his hand onto one of the berths in the med-bay, his hands hovering over me for a few seconds until he was sure that I wouldn't fall over. Breakdown still treated me like a porcelain doll, thinking the lightest of his touches could break my bones. I was starting to suspect that I wouldn't receive the same kind of treatment from my mentor. Not in the slightest.

"That wasn't what I had expected." I said, after taking a long sip of the water bottle Breakdown had handed me. It wouldn't have surprised me if Knock Out had made him carry around a whole survival kit of expert size for me.

"You should start expecting more then. 'Cause it won' get any easier than running a few metres, trust me."

His sudden outburst surprised me and I scrolled the cap of the bottle back on, seeking eye contact with him. Something was awfully off with the both of them, had been for quite some time actually. But despite everything I couldn't find anything in his optics that might tell me what was off. Then he broke the little stare down.

"Have you finally finished that datapad Knock Out gave you?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, you'd better get to work then."

I stared up at him, not answering. What was it with all this biting cold all of sudden? He didn't even look at me as I climbed off the berth and slowly walked out the med-bay doors. I was going to have a good long shower, a change of clothes and maybe a little nap after this. But Breakdown was right; I needed to finish the datapad.

As I made my way to my quarters, a group of three drones who were patrolling the hallways passed me. One of them lightly bumped into my side with his leg and sent me stumbling backwards into the wall. He either hadn't notice, or had done so on purpose and simply ignored me afterwards. I knew better than to speak up against them though. It wouldn't end well for me without anyone of their size around to protect me… Primus, I hated how that sounded. But this would change. I wouldn't always be the defenseless little fleshy. I didn't doubt that Dreadwing's training would make me stronger and more resilient. The only thing I had to get was the gun that I used in my training with the seekers and Ravage. And that I would get as soon as I was cleared for duty. What kind of duty they had in mind for me though, I had no idea. Since my little 'excursion' to the Autobot base, I hadn't had anything important to do. Hopefully that would change.

Once I reached my quarters, I deposited the bottle of water on my make-shift bed and took my shower utensils, towel, a pair of black leggings and a plain black hoodie and made my way to the washracks. At this time of day most of the drones were on duty as well as all the other Cons, so I had the large hall all to myself. I left my clothes and the towel in a small room at the front, where mechs could put their armor pieces. Like in earths military, nudity wasn't a big deal for Decepticons anymore. Most of them were so scarred, mentally as well as physically, that there wasn't space for shame in situations which would have been uncomfortable on the old Cybertron. And the drone's protoform looked all the same anyway. Lord Megatron and Commander Starscream had each private washracks, of course, but for the rest, there was no such thing as privacy.

In the actual racks, there was a control panel next to each nozzle about five metres above ground for the normal sized Decepticons and in the close corner a single nozzle, close to the ground with a control panel on level with my hip. The perfect size for Soundwave's drones and me.

I put the water pressure and temperature slightly stronger and hotter than I usually did, to massage the tense muscles in my back and squirted a bit of shampoo out of the bottle. With closed eyes I massaged the foam into my skull and then went on with conditioner and body scrub. My skin had turned a light shade of red from the direct heat and for the next few minutes I couldn't get myself to move away from under the stream. So I decided to start combing my hair under the water and braided it down my back.

After I had gotten dressed I left for my quarters just to stop abruptly right at the entrance. Knock Out was crouched down, with his elbows supporting his weight as he fiddled with something next to the door entrance from the inside. There was a large gash on his left hip, which seemed to have been patched up in a hurry. I stepped closer to inspect the width of it and put my hand on the uneven area. The noise of gears shifting caused me to look up just as he glanced over his shoulder at me. His eyes lit up with joy and he lifted his upper body, so that he was sitting with his legs folded under his torso.

"Nightbird! I see you are back already? How did it go?"

I couldn't answer him though. All my attention was focused on the even larger gash that ran straight over his spark chamber – an energon blade perhaps? – and a good part of his right chest was dented. The dent was pretty deep and if he hadn't turned his pain receptors off – which he surely had – he'd probably be moaning constantly, or at least have had Breakdown fix him per his own instructions. It looked painful, but not life-threatening. The gash on the other hand, though it wasn't deep, was placed _directly_ above his spark chamber, as if crossing it out. If it had indeed been an energon blade, like I had thought, and the cut had been a bit deeper, then there would be no way he'd have survived this.

"What happened?" I whispered in a shrill voice, hovering my hand over the end of the gash. It hadn't been properly fixed yet - single droplets of energon were still running along the rim - and I didn't want to hurt him, but I _needed_ to do something about it.

If those beings that had done this to him – the Autobots – had managed to kill him… I couldn't even think about it. Our drones seemed to be falling like insects at their hands, I had known that. It was only plausible since we didn't have the means nor the time to properly train them before sending them into battle, but fully trained soldiers like Knock Out? I had seen his weapons arsenal. If that hadn't been enough to defend him, then who was I, thinking I could just tag-along with them at some point? I had seen Autobots before, I had trained against them, even if only virtual, but I hadn't stood a chance without someone having my back. And front. And my sides probably as well.

Above all this I had missed his answer, but his repeating a question tore me out of my daze.

"Huh? Pardon?" I asked, shaking my head to look up at his smirk. Despite the battle wounds, he looked good. It was good to see him smile again. Especially after a day like this.

"How did your training go?" he repeated, nudging my shoulder playfully with his digit.

"It was good… good." I mumbled, still a bit dazed and staring at his chassis. He cocked his head to the side and raised an optic ridge.

"So you throwing up after fifty-three astro-seconds of it, is to be considered as good?"

"I dunno. Is it?"

He shook his head at me in a playful manner and ruffled a digit through my hair, careful not to tousle it too much. Then he turned me around and pointed at the thing he had been working on until I had interrupted him. I slowly approached the black contraption that was attached to the wall on shoulder height for me. It looked like a really slim half-moon attached to a little computer with a tiny screen, barely the size of my palm, and a few keys below it with the Cybertronian markings for 'add', 'substract', 'balance', 'refill' and 'countdown'.

"What's this?" I asked curiously and turned back around to face Knock Out. He tapped a digit against the cuff on my right arm and pointed back at the black contraption. It was of the same smooth metal and immediately I got a little wary. I hadn't exactly had the best experiences with Knock Out's invented machinery. There always came pain along with it. No matter if it was a metal-spitting tattoo-needle – which I would still need to be subjected to another time - or a nerve-cutting control-panel disguised as a cuff. His inventions were ingenious, but painful.

"Connect the cuff to it. Place your arm there, palm first against the wall." he explained calmly, with an undertone that showed a little excited eagerness. Whatever it was, he wanted to see if it worked as flawlessly as he had imagined it to.

"What is it?" I repeated. I was still wary of this thing. I knew it wouldn't seriously hurt me, but I wasn't exactly a masochist.

"A system which allows you to fill your energon levels to the optimal level at any given time. So whenever you leave, or enter this room you just place your arm in there and it will do the calculating and injecting which you are incapable of."

"Hey!"

"I'm just teasing, you know me. Now go ahead. It'll be a slight pinch but that's a one-time thing, since the entrance wound will be located beneath a small port in your cuff. Go on, trust me." He kept encouraging and at some point I just sighed and pressed my arm in the half-moon shaped thing, with its backside away from the wall. I could hear shifting noises as something inside the contraption and probably also inside my cuff shifted. My arm seemed to be attached to the wall, as the cuff linked with the system and I did indeed feel a slight pinch, but it was so light that it didn't even cause me to flinch. Knock Out's digit crept past my arm and with the tip of it, he carefully tapped the key 'balance' and a few cybertronian numbers counted quickly upwards on the small screen. When they came to a halt, he touched the 'refill' key. A second later, my arm was released and I felt some of the aching in muscles fade away along with a part of my fatigue.

"Wow, this actually works pretty well.", I mumbled, rolling my shoulder and looking up at his smirk.

"I'm just that good. If you'll excuse me, I need to get Breakdown. No one can expect me to walk around with a finish like this." Knock Out rose to his full height and smiled down at me. Maybe he'd just needed to blow off some steam. He looked so much more relaxed and happy about something, despite the marks on his finish. But he was about to get them fixed up and shiny now anyway. "Get something to eat. I got you some indian take-away. And try finishing those datapads!"

I gave him a two fingered salute and headed towards the berth with a plastic bag and the datapads next to my blanket pile. With a sigh I heaved myself up the berth – it was placed as close to the ground as possible to allow me to simply climb up – and sat cross legged in the middle of it. Taking in the smell of the freshly cooked curry I opened the white boxes with a sigh and dug in. I only really stopped chewing when I had to underline or mark a certain and important passage or scribble a note next to a complicated holographic model.

My datapads acted as information donors as well as information savers. Whenever I came across a particularly important or difficult part, like the trine-bond and how the spark itself chose whom to bond with, along-side with different theories of how either trine-mates were comparable to split-sparks or how Primus made three lives so completely in tone with each other, that sooner or later they were destined to find themselves. So they were similar to spark mates, only that the frequencies of the sparks of two spark-mates wouldn't require any similarities. Like human love, it was completely irrational and could happen with anyone. On the contrary to a seeker-trine, which would immediately know when the destined sparks were near, spark-mates needed to develop their relationships and usually didn't 'mate' for vorns. So on earth, two transformer could know each other and feel attracted to each other since the middle ages, but never actually have physically acted on their feelings.

Things like these sometimes made me realize how not only short our lives were, but how almost everything humans cherished was based purely on instinct. Like every decision we made, every important part, our lives, everything was purely dedicated to love or thirst for power. Our whole existence could be narrowed down to those two aspects and both of them were animalistic instincts. Power equaled surviving and love equaled reproduction.

How could anyone think that vermin like humans had the right to live in peace, while cybertronians, gods, were to be scattered among the stars without a home and without hope of ever regaining one. Lord Megatron was planning to use earths only really useful resource to restore that hope. There were murmurs and whispers going through the ranks, that it wouldn't take long before he would act on his plan and reclaim what was rightfully his. Ever since the rising of a single gladiator in the pits, millions and millions of years ago, he had known what needed to be done. That sacrifices needed to be made to bring Cybertron back to its glorious days. Knock Out had told me about this many times before. About the history Megatronus and Orion Pax had shared. Like perfect fiction, two revolutionaries from two different worlds. One of the highest and one of the lowest cast. Both fighting hand in hand for the same thing, until Orion betrayed Megatron and tore the title of Prime from Megatron's grasp. I wondered if the former brother of Megatron would still have betrayed him, had he known how many lives it had cost.

Likely.

I had been so distracted by my thoughts, that I hadn't noticed the tail that lightly wrapped itself around my throat. As the pointy end of it appeared in my field of vision, waving back and forwards slowly, trying to capture my attention, I jumped and let the datapad fall to the ground.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, I was studying!" I barked at him and he answered with a terrifying hyena-like cackling. Primus forbid if he started the whole 'record and replay' stuff that Soundwave was so into. For a second he tightened his tail around my neck, but then released me, dropping onto his stomach like any normal cat would, his head rested on my thigh. I shook my head at him in disbelief, but turned back to my datapad to finish the chapter about psychological aid for trine-mate loss and the best and worst case scenario of coping with it afterwards.

Meanwhile, Ravage lifted his head and nudged the palm of my hand with his snout a few times before I started scratching the sensitive nodes behind his audio-receptors and moved down under his jaw. His vents let out the air in a steady purr and his optics dimmed until they were nearly black. Whenever I got too distracted by the datapad, so that I'd cease scratching, his head would simply go back to nudging me again, or if he was too close to recharge, he'd just growl at me the moment I stopped. But after another two hours or so, even Ravage seemed to have enough and gently took my wrist between his fangs and tugged me.

"What's up?" I asked with a hearty yawn and put the datapad aside. Ravage nodded his head to the direction of the room and tugged me to the edge of the berth, contently softly gnawing on my hand, only releasing it to let my hop down and land with a thud, like an elephant compared to his graceful jump. Then he took my hand between his fangs again and happily trotted out the door, with me in tow.

It took me a little while to realize where we were heading, but when we went around the corridor it clicked. I was due for my training with Ravage. Contently I let myself be tugged into the room and helped him connect us to the system, which I promised him to keep doing ever night from now on. Train with him, sleep, train with the trine, train with Captain Dreadwing and do medical studies.

That was my plan for the next day as well, only that after I had shot up in my bed because of a nightmare about Optimus Prime stepping on me of all things, after I tried to shoot him, intending the worst –he had crushed me like a cockroach and that hadn't been a good feeling at all – I realized that nearly every muscle in my legs and back ached as if there was no tomorrow. Knock out had noticed it too, after I had come hobbling into the med-bay.

"This is a one-time thing, do you understand? Only because I need you to finish the datapad today." He wiggled his digit at me to make his point. "I won't be able to bail you out of everything anymore. Besides, Lord Megatron won't be going easy on you. The sooner you start getting used to it, the better."

"Getting used to what?"

"Used to…" he stocked, looking behind him at something I couldn't see, searching for a word to express what he meant. His optics narrowed. "…handling yourself."

I couldn't make sense of it. Handling myself? I knew I needed to get more independent in terms of doing my own washing or learning how to at least heat up a pizza, but everyone got to that stage in life at some point. Most people sooner than me. What was so wrong with that, though? He'd never had anything against it before. Why would it suddenly become such a big deal?

"What do you mean?"

Knock Out sighed, his expression turning from sadness to exasperated anger. His left hand was clenched into a fist, while his right threatened to crush the tool he held. A cyberforceps, something like a laser scalper. Crushing it would be a pretty bad move, since the forceps was one of the few tools he had managed to save from the destruction of Cybertron.

"I _mean_…" he started but changed his mind in the last second and waved me off like a little child, shooing me out of the med-bay. "Never mind. You really should get started on your studies though. When you're done with the datapad I gave you, I need you to go over the wings another time. It's very important that you remember the wiring of the circuitry and the location of the sensors."

I frowned, but knew nothing else to say. He didn't address me again after that, even though I still waited for another minute. Instead of waiting any longer I had hobbled back to my quarters and done what he had told me.

All in all, it had taken me the morning and whole afternoon to finish the datapad and comprehend the information within, short breaks included. There was no way in hell I would be able to learn all of that tonight. I was pretty good at remembering things which appeared logical to me, as soon as I could related them to something, connect them to an image or a graphic which explained the mechanics of a body part or the most common damage and the way of fixing said damage. But this was by far too much. Knock Out would give me a couple of months to memorize it though. I only needed to learn the absolute basics. Unfortunately for me, the basics of seekers were different to those of normal cybertronians. Seeker technology appeared to be what they needed me for.

Before I went over the wings once more, I had decided to take a small nap. It had been some well needed rest for my eyes, and had helped with keeping as much information locked inside my head as possible.

The next day, after I had gloriously failed the training with Ravage, my physical training with Captain Dreadwing resumed. Again; running around the same Mountain. Much to my shame, I didn't manage as long as I had last time, but that didn't stop me from trying again the day after that. And the day after that. And after that. Knock Out had stepped in a couple of times and my training with the trine became less regular, whereas my training with Ravage became more of a relaxing hobby, since it was the only time I didn't get shouted at and actually got positive criticism from someone for once.

It took a few weeks until I had a daily routine. Captain Dreadwing only made me run the Mountain route about once a week now, other than that I had an hour per day to get my upper body strength up and – finally, about a month and a half after my training with him had started - two hours per day of tactical fighting, shooting and especially practicing my aim. The latter needed a lot of practicing, whih is why I spent most of those hours trying to hit one of those poor drones with a human sized, simple plasma cannon. Then every third day those hours would be replaced by Knock Out's medical training and sometimes even practical lessons on one of the damaged drones. Training with the seekers was only about once or twice a week now, but the seekers needed time to plan more strategies and attack methods _without_ a human tagging along.

I had gained quite some weight by that time, or to be precise, muscles. My stamina had improved tenfold - at least that's how it felt like to me. My aim was good enough to easily hit an Autobot target from a considerable distance, but it wasn't as astronomically precise as Captain Dreadwing would have liked and it had quickly been decided that I was no good a sniper. But as a scout, I was useful. The Autobots wouldn't be looking for organic signals. They apparently regarded the human race as their allies. What better way of surviving in enemy territory than not being regarded as an enemy?

Ravage thought the same, but in the virtual training lessons with him he still showed me the Cybertronians weaknesses and soft spots. For one: the taller the transformer, the less likely of him to look up. The smaller ones though, did not often look down. This evening he wanted me to use exactly that knowledge and terminate a femme without my gun. Despite her being programmed to be quite a few levels weaker, it was still something that made me gulp with respect.

It had taken me about a month to get from running from the low-level Autobots, to chasing them. Ravage had promised to stay close by at all times, but made it clear that he would not interfere. Simply observe and keep the femme cornered should she try to run. And exactly that was what he did at the moment. Fangs bared and claws scraping over the ground as he growled at her, his blaster aimed straight at her chest. The rosé colored blue-eye had her blasters aimed back at him, but femmes weren't made for combat. They were fast but even this one, with her lithe built frame wouldn't be a match for the cybercat.

Without taking his optics off her, he spat into the , telling me to move out. I heaved myself up a piece of collapsed wall and carefully slid down, trying to avoid getting her attention as I stayed low to the ground.

"Don't come any closer, I warn you!" a surprisingly clear and beautiful voice escaped the Autobot's vocal processor. I had been explained by Thundercracker why some of the Autobots in the program could talk fluently and some had no voice at all and also seemed to be move in a much more unnatural way, while others seemed to have special styles and moves. Those who had voices and seemed to behave like actual beings, had already been in Decepticon captivity and either escaped or died there. Or they were still there, after all those millions of years. The first procedure after emptying a captives sub-spaces and thus disarming them was to run their processors vital information and codings. That way, their most likely reactions, movements and their pattern of speech could be calculated and turned into a perfect simulation. The only down point was, that the simulations didn't improve like the real Autobots did, so a lot of the situations were out-dated. Those who were mute and seemed a little fake in general had only been scanned by a Decepticon; by one of the scouts who had invaded Iacon for example, or Praxus or Polyhex.

For the fracture of a second I had to wonder what fait had befallen her.

Until Ravage jumped away from his spot guarding her, giving me a clear sign to get to work. The only weapon at my disposal was a small knife with a blade of the size of my hand. One side was ragged, the other smooth and deadly sharp. It lay surprisingly light in my hands as I ran out of my cover and stabbed it in between the plates of her left heel. With a quick jerk of both my hands on the blade, I cut the thick wires and cables that connected her foot to her leg and she sunk to one knee with a surprised gasp.

"Primus! Wha- no!" she yelled out and moved to turn around, crouching down as I ripped the knife along the two plates covering her upper thigh. She was forced to take all pressure of that limp and fell on her side as the blade cut through sensitive wiring and reached down to her protoform. Her eyes narrowed in pain and she lifted the right hand with her blaster aiming straight for my head. I managed to dodge her first two shots but her third one cut along my throat and I felt the warm blood pour out of the wound. The flesh at the edges was charred and burned so the bloodloss wasn't too severe. A few months ago that would have scared me to death and I would have panicked over it. My training sessions with Ravage always ended with my death. It had something to do with the endless courage of the Decepticon cause. When our soldiers were on the real battlefield they wouldn't waste a single thought about their death. With time, your subconscious began to think that, even if you died in real life, you had nothing to fear. You would simply 'respawn'. At first I had thought that to be cruel, but in a war, where every day could be your last, taking your soldiers the fear of death could be just as merciful as it was useful. I didn't waste a thought on dying either, except for my sheer desire to finish this femme before I was finished, as had been my command.

I jumped over her outstretched leg and as she adjusted her aim, through my knife straight into her blaster, the cybertronium blade ripping through its shell and rendering it incapable of firing. The femmes eyes widened in panic as she couldn't transform her hand back, and so couldn't switch hands and use her other blaster without falling onto her back and lying at her most vulnerable. So she lunged out at me, and tried to force me away, but I kept coming back and at some point, when her arm came at me at an extremely convenient angle, I gripped the shaft of the knife and _twisted_.

The cannons of a Cybertronian were not directly linked to their protoforms, but the endings were and with small blasters of the thickness of her arm, it was almost impossible to not hit the link to her protoform with the length of this blade.

The femme howled in pain and out of sheer reflex tried to shake me off. To her dismay, my body didn't fly away from her, but crashed right into her chassis. I didn't waste a moment, plunged my fingers in between the chest plating of her armor and _ripped_.

"Nn… argh… _Optimus!_", she screeched as the blue glow in her chest unveiled itself to me. My hands froze and my eyes stared up at her in shock. What the…

She noticed my moment of hesitation and shook me off, crushing my foot in the process. I hissed but managed to hang on to her left arm, which she had used to support herself with. Quicker than she could do anything about, I jumped onto her back, hissing at the pain radiating from my leg, scrambled up and tore at the main energon lines with all the strength I possessed. She let herself fall backwards, and I could feel my bones breaking, my mouth opened to a silent scream as all the air left my lungs and I began coughing blood. My body was quickly covered with her spilled energon and I desperately tried to pull myself away from under her struggling, dying form, but it was no use. She was too heavy.

I turned my head to look at Ravage with a silent plea in my eyes. I could barely form words. There was no air in my lungs and the pain was so strong. Even though I knew it was hopeless, my hands wouldn't stop trying to push the body off of me. Not even when it stopped moving and the blue glow in its optics died out.

"_R… rah… age…" _I choked out, desperate for air. The cybercat crooked its head to the side and slowly started to approach me. Instead of pulling me out from under the bodies weight though, he examined the wound on my throat and without making a sound, jumped on onto the femmes chest. I spat out a gargled sob from all the pain but once I was quiet again and my breath had settled a little I glanced up at him again, only to see him cock his head to the side once more, staring down at me and online the blaster on his shoulder…

When my eyes shot open, I instantly spotted Airachnid lurking in the dark. Her legs twitched a little in their position on her back, seeing as she was in her bi-pedal form. The only thing which was clearly visible, were her purple glowing eyes which eerily illuminated her teeth-baring smile. Ravage growled lowly from his place on the berth behind me. Airachnid laughed at him.

"Nice work you did of her. You're improving. Try to avoid dying next time, though.", she cooed in a sickly sweet voice and slowly creeped up on me. "Going for the spark of the Prime's sweetheart, are you sure you're Knock Out's? You _would_ make a fine Decepticon."

"I _am_ a Decepticon."

She chuckled darkly. Just a couple of steps more until she would be standing directly in front of me. "Maybe Knock Out should consider to let Shockwave…"

"Airachnid, enough!"

Dreadwing stood in the entrance, eyes narrowed, chest puffed out. He was staring her down while she was sizing him up from her position in front of me, crouched down to eye-level, her arms all around me, too close for comfort. She seemed to weigh her chances, but after a moment of silence, pulled back her limbs and straightened up. Her sugar sweet smile turned into a cold, bored mask.

"Have it your way. But you would be a fool to believe that Lord Megatron hasn't given it a thought." she spat at him and left the room without further ado. Dreadwing followed her movements with his optics, prepared to defend his student if necessary. He had informed me of his duties once, to ensure that I would make it through his training included insuring that I stayed alive. But I knew him to be a liar if he told me that those protective instincts weren't – at least to a certain degree – of personal origin. He had grown fond of me, at least a tiny bit.

"What was she talking about, Captain?" I asked warily, eyes still locked on the door.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with."

I nodded. Asking twice was, in the Captain's optics, a form of disobedience. Disobedience would not be tolerated. But there was another question that bugged me.

"What did she mean by 'the Prime's _sweetheart_', Sir?"

"Elita-1 is, supposedly, Optimus Prime's sparkmate." he answered, carefully viewing her expressions.

"_Is_? Did she escape? I was informed that only Autobots who had their processors scanned had their vocal-processors copied into the training program. I had assumed that she offlined, Sir."

"Offlined? No. The Prime's spark would have broken, if not disintegrated had she been offlined. That is, if they have a sparkbond." He seemed to struggle with himself about how much he should tell me. "So far as I am aware, she is in captivity in our main lab under Kaon."

"Would the Prime not have retrieved her, if she were his bondmate?" I asked, slightly confused.

"That is why not everyone is certain if they truly are bondmates, or if Shockwave merely found a way to block the bond. I myself am doubting that they shared a bond. He would not have left her on Cybertron for the last thirteen-thousand vorns. The bond I share with my twin is too strong to even allow me being separated from him over such a distance if one of us is not in stasis-lock." he stated matter-of-factly.

I let out a gasp. "Thirteen-thousand vorns? That's… I can't even begin to imagine how long that is…"

"You are still young. For beings like us a single vorn is hardly worth mentioning. But for sparkmates to be apart for one is… different. And that for … one-million-and-seventy-nine-thousand of your earth years is unimaginable." he lowered his voice in the end, as if in deep respect and sadness. Why?

"They are Autobots though. It is their own stupidity to have created a bond during wartimes. Especially for their leader. She would be his perfect weakness!" I blurted out, my head swimming with ideas Lord Megatron could certainly form into useful plans. Dreadwing did not seem happy about this.

"Autobot or not, they are still cybertronian beings. I empathize with the Prime for baring a burden as great as this. But rest assured, if the femme commander is anything, then not the Prime's weakness. A Prime would never act selfishly enough as to place the life of his mate over that of his cause."

I snorted. "With all due respect, captain, but that sounds a bit too friendly, considering we are talking about the enemy."

He cast me a glance that was seething with rage for one second, but calmed down to a gentle fire the other. "I am under no circumstances 'friendly' with the Autobot commander. I never have been and never shall be. I have chosen my side, as a part of the beaten, battered and broken, who have risen from their places at the end of the chain of the cruel and blind regime of the first cast. But while the Prime, as part of that cast, is and shall stay, for the durance of this war, my enemy, I respect his ways. He has a great sense of honor and stands beside his men during battle. But even if it weren't so, I wouldn't wish a bondmates death, or separation such as this upon my worst of enemies."

He regarded me for another few moments, until he nodded to himself and left me pondering about what he had said. I'd never heard of anyone before that they respected the Prime, even though he was our worst enemy. Feared, yes. But never respected.

With two graceful leaps, Ravage landed next to me on the berth and sat down beside me. His tail slung around my shoulders in something akin to a hug, while his optics searched my face for any sign of... doubt. What it was I should be doubting though, I had no idea.

The remainder of the week went by quickly. And suddenly everything seemed to come into place. After the training with Ravage and my killing the Prime's supposed sparkmate with my bare hands, I finally managed to run around the whole mountain. It had taken me a bit more than four hours and a lot of discipline, but I had finally made it and the single, accepting nod that Captain Dreadwing gave me was worth so much more than it should mean to me. Even my improvement in aiming seemed to pay itself off as Thundercracker, for the first time, referred to me by my name and Starscream had seemed content with my progress. Even Skydive seemed to tolerate me now.

And for a little while, everything seemed so perfect.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So I was a bit concerned about the violence in this chapter. If there's anything bothering you about please tell me. But keep in mind, she isn't at all strong enough to handle an Autobot yet. Neither with nor without a weapon. And don't worry about her becoming unrealistically strong or anything. You'll see. But I planned to rewrite this whole thing after I reached a certain point in the story, which should be about four to five chapters from now. It could change a few things, but I mostly wanted to get the writing style up to date and correct some mistakes I made. <strong>_

_**Please leave a Review with anything you wanna tell me, they help me update faster;)**_


	19. The dawning

Chapter 19

"Keep up fleshy!" Skywarp shouted out, before he jumped off the platform into the abyss. This time I knew that he was teasing me. The past six months had been a great improvement for all of us. Not only for my training, but also for the Decepticon cause. Soundwave had managed to send out a long range message which had been received and answered by an ally on Cybertron. This ally, who had been a loyal soldier to Lord Megatron ever since the start of the war, had promised reinforcements to arrive. No one knew any numbers, but judging by the mood of our master they must be thousands.

Everyone was preparing for this event and it was no secret that the arrival of Lord Megatron's long since awaited army would be the beginning of something so great and magnificent, that most of the Decepticons had never dared to dream of. The revival of Cybertron.

Thundercracker raced past me, performed a perfect loop and landed next to me on the platform, his cockpit opening. "Need a lift?"

I nodded with a smile and swung myself into the seat, careful to avoid the sensitive spots on his wings as I climbed up his frame. I had accidentally done so once and he in turn had accidentally transformed. I doubt I need to elaborate on the outcome.

It hadn't taken me long to build up something akin to a friendship with Thundercracker. He would give me lifts whenever Starscream and Skywarp were a considerable distance away and I would fix up his wing problems, since he had a bad habit of getting shot at right on the wings and neither Starscream nor Skywarp could or found any time to quickly rewire and patch up the injury. I was their medic, last resort sniper and of course, their scout. But most often, I was their additional firepower.

Every once in a while Starscream would try and 'have some fun'. On these days he would adjust the system to its highest level. Basically this meant; tons of Autobot drones, individual soldiers and one specific mission. Sometimes it was to retrieve a certain weapon, other times it was to capture a certain mech. This time, in the middle of the half destroyed tri-torus-loop we tried to stealth ourselves into the city of Iacon to assassinate Sentinel Prime.

Attempting tasks like these, of such a difficulty level was even with the seekers nearly impossible. Seekers were very quickly spotted, since Autobot flyers were very rare and tended to be pacifistic ex-Decepticons. So the unfortunately realistic program made sure to let no mistake in an air-maneuver go by unnoticed. Skywarp usually managed to get us out of situations in which we were on the losing end, but warping made too much noise for a stealthy entrance. Starscream had led us under the loop and we followed him in a straight line beneath the metal path. Thundercracker had taken the end of our little caravan and I was turned in my seat to watch their backs. If we could shield our signals, so could they.

It took us a nerve wrecking eternity until Iacon even came into sight and Starscream began to wonder aloud how one of the most secure places on Cybertron could be this easy to enter. He didn't like it when things didn't go according to plan, but he liked it even less when the plan seemed to work flawlessly. No plan ever worked flawlessly, that much he had learned in his time serving under Megatron.

"They'll have detectors all around the city, especially in close proximity and the more refined ones might pick up our signatures. We'll split up once the city is in range and enter from different parts. Skywarp, get as close to the city as possible and warp into it as high above ground as you can. Thundercracker, get Nightbird through the main gate and have her take out the security network while you distract the guards. Take them out if necessary, but do it quietly." He ordered over the . "I'll try it from below ground, through some of the maintenance tunnels. Keep each other posted until we manage to regroup. Go."

And again, feeding our team leader's mistrust, everything worked perfectly. Thundercracker had me climb up the wall in front of the imposing maingate of Iacon at the end of the tri-torus-loop and I managed to sneak around the guards without evoking any attention at all. I had to wait for one of the guards to walk into the security office next to the gate, for the door to open, but once I was inside everything went smoothly. I crawled right under the desk and shot point blank at the computer which dissipated into rust in a matter of seconds. The security guard freaked out and contacted his comrade about a 'technical glitch' which was the understatement of the century, at least in my opinion.

The moment his comrade entered the office, I slipped out the door and contacted Thundercracker to come pick me up. He scooped me up from behind without any kind of warning, except for the graceful thundering of his feet and the earthquake-like movement of the ground as he ran towards me. Like a ninja… not.

"You possess as much grace and stealth as an elephant herd, do you know that?" I complimented him as I leaned back in the cockpit again, enjoying the view of the blue-golden glowing Autobot capital.

"Oh, thank you!" he replied almost immediately, sounding proud and flattered. He had no idea what an elephant was.

"Sure," I muttered back, knowing full well he would just stop talking to me for the next few weeks if I told him what I had meant by that. "…anytime, pal."

"Regroup in front of the senate. Progress there in bi-pedal mode and don't attract attention."Starscream commanded after we reported that we, as well, had managed it into the city without further complications.

"Bi-pedal? What about the fleshy?" Thundercracker asked out of his depth and slightly concerned. On the contrary to Skywarp, his 'nicknames' for me were never meant as insults. He did it out of habit, I guessed. Old habits die hard, they say.

"I dunno. Just put it on your shoulder, shouldn't attract too much attention." Skywarp responded, obviously irritated at either being questioned or confined to bi-pedal mode. He much preferred having the advantage of flight and I couldn't blame him. Flying was awesome, even if I was only in the cockpit. I was still a bit annoyed at his statement however and since I had gained much more confidence in communicating with them, it didn't feel as risky to speak up as it would have felt a couple of months ago.

"I can hear you, you know?"

"Yeah, well then, have him put you on his shoulder."

"…sure."

The crackled offline and Thundercracker let me hop out of his alt mode before he transformed and carefully raised me up to his shoulder plates. He kept his hand lingering there until I had seated myself in between the hollow part of his back that stuck out from his shoulders.

"All good?" he asked, still deciding on whether to remove his hand or not. I had fallen off once before and the seekers had went on training without me. It had left Thundercracker feeling guilty for not having caught me and Skywarp had nearly killed them all by getting a laughing fit that attracted the attention of each and every Autobotin a radius of three klicks.

"All good." I answered and propped a leg up to sit more comfortably. The seeker nodded firmly and walked out into the open, mixing disappearing into the crowd, walking firmly and quickly enough so that the Decepticon insignia on his wings wouldn't be spotted by anyone. I also noticed how he averted looking into other mechs or femmes optics, dimmed them a little and looked at the ground or to the side.

I pressed my back as deeply into the hollowed metal as I could, to avoid curious optics and attention of any kind whatsoever. Some seemed to look our way, but seeing as most of the Autobots inside the city weren't exactly battle material, they either turned away from the towering mech or pretended to ignore him. Thundercracker quickened his pace – the Autobot civilists may not attack them, but they would contact others who were more than capable to.

"Think they're onto us?" I whispered, knowing that this close to his audial, he would likely hear me.

"Certainly." He retorted, but even though I knew we both had the urge to turn around and see if someone was following us, for him to turn around would seem too suspicious and having a tiny alien head poke around from in between his plates would give them any attention they failed to pull upon themselves.

"Think someone is following us already?"

"You there! Halt immediately!" came a gruff voice, amplified through some sort of speaker from behind us. I froze, but Thundercracker started to sprint, shoving mechs and femmes to the side as if they were dolls. I held onto the metal frames around me but since we were going forwards, I wasn't in much danger of falling out.

"Commander, we will be delayed by a bit. We'll catch up." He spoke into his as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and he wasn't just sprinting away from a potential arsenal of law enforcers who didn't just want to bill him.

"Understood."

"Halt or we will initiate fire!" the voice threatened and Thundercracker gave a horse laugh.

"See how many there are, will you?"

I grasped onto the metal firmly and popped my head around the corner. It wasn't hard to make out the pursuers. Two well-armored Autobots with short range guns in one servo. Likely the cybertronian version of police, but surely not heavy battle material either. Due to their lack of actual battle armor, sleeker frames allowed them to move much faster than Thundercracker could, though. They were gaining on us, fast.

Considering that they weren't too far away and that I had only used one shot so far, I shifted and tried to get my upper body to face them. In the end I sat with my legs parted by the metal plate in an attempt to hold myself on his jumping frame. I was lying on my side, trying to get a steadier aim and pointed the gun at the first 'police officer'. For bullets as tiny as mine, they really weren't a hard target, but I didn't manage a particularly good hit on either of them, since Thundercracker was, in fact, moving like a herd of elephants.

"None." I then replied to his earlier question. He skidded to a stop and turned around to look at the dissipating bodies, then turned his head to look at me and back to the remaining rust.

"Slaggit, Nightbird. That was… unexpected."

"You're welcome." I answered, feeling my ego swell not at the fact that I had taken out two very easy targets or without any orders, but from the first time he actually, subconsciously used my name.

When we finally arrived at the senate, Starscream was still there, standing in the shadows of an alleyway. Thundercracker approached him.

"We said we'd catch up."

"Skywarp isn't here yet." Starscream mumbled back, looking around the area, obviously searching for any signs of trouble. He might have appeared like he didn't care, with his arms crossed over his chest and his back leaning against the wall like that, but he was pretty tense. Thundercracker noticed it as well. Like a sparkmates bond, a trine bond could carry emotions as well as thoughts and was designed to have three mechs work together and act as one. But during wartimes, especially in the Decepticon faction, it was practiced that part of the bond or at least the emotions would be dimmed, if not suppressed completely. She knew from observation that this wasn't always the case with the seekers. Anytime one of them was in trouble, the others would let whatever they were doing fall to the ground and rush to their aid, or if they were heavily injured they would linger in or around the med-bay until their trine-mate was fixed. After that, they wouldn't leave each other's side for a couple of days or so. Knock Out and Lord Megatron knew this of course and she had no doubt Soundwave did as well, but the rest of the crew never paid enough attention to the trine to even attempt to try and figure them out.

According to Starscream's and Thundercracker's posture, Skywarp was in trouble. It didn't take long for both of them to space out either. Thundercracker started tapping his foot and Starscream began tapping his fingers. Both of them had dimmed optics and a passive look on their faces, as if they were staring at something miles away. Their wings stood straight upwards and stiff on their back. I knew better than to try and capture their attention, so I tried staying on the lookout for any threats. That was until Thundercrack suddenly brought his arms up to clutch at his chest, simultaneously with Starscream and both Cons fell to their knees, their mouths opened in silent screams. The sudden impact caught me off guard and I fell out of my neat sitting area face first into the ground.

I woke up with something akin to a suppressed whimper and found myself in my usual corner. This time, I wasn't the first one. Skywarp was already sitting upright, his face buried in his hands and Thundercracker and Starscream had just shot upwards.

"Never order me to teleport into Iacon, _ever_ again." Skywarp laughed slightly hysterical and I wondered what had happened to him in there. But something told me to not piss him off any more than he already was.

Starscream responded with a similarly shocked laugh but stopped short when his optics dimmed once more. A .

"Nightbird, you should report to the command center. Lord Megatron requests your presence." he said with a sudden seriousness in his tone. I nodded, disconnected the cable and handed it to Skywarps awaiting hand. It was his turn with the set up and clean up.

But on the contrary to what I had expected, what awaited me in the command center were rather good news. I was finally allowed to participate in another mission. Even if it was only reconnaissance, but at least it was a mission. And with Ravage as my partner!

We were to infiltrate an army base, or at least get close enough to it, and gather as much intel as possible from intercepting their frequencies. But it was of great importance that we remained unspotted. I had no information on what kind of intel we were supposed to gather, or what kind of base it was, whether there were Autobots involved or only humans and also not where it was located. Although judging by the clothing Knock Out had forced on me – a thick winter parka with a furry hood, snow pants and boots, gloves and a scarf to cover my face with -, it would probably be some place cold.

And it was. I had made the mistake of having my hood down when I entered the space bridge portal. The chilly breeze that blew a few snowflakes in our direction when we were still inside the bridge was easy to handle. I could have stood through it with my hood down, probably also with my parka opened, but I wasn't prepared for the freezing cold that hit me head on as soon as I jumped out of the bridge. It surprised me so much that I yelped, turned around and jumped back into the bridge, to Ravages surprise. As soon as I had covered my mouth, nose and ears with the scarf and had pulled and secured the hood over my head, I jumped out again. The wind still burned in my eyes and I had to blink several times to get used to the difference between the barely lit warship and the field of snow that seemed to be out to direct every little ray of sunlight into my eyes. I hissed and covered them for a few seconds longer.

A low growling forced me to remove the gracious darkness from my eyes and force them to adjust to the white and white of my surroundings. Ravage and I were both the only real contrast, two black dots on white. I found it to be quite unpractical, since we were easily spotted this way, but Knock out must have had his reasons. He always did, even if sometimes they were of purely fashionable interest.

Ignoring the hissing sounds he made, I grabbed Ravage's tail and tried to follow him blindly. The good thing about this situation was that at least there wouldn't be any trees I could walk into or any stones I could trip over.

When my eyes had finally grown used to the light, I stopped short and looked around with my mouth wide open under the scarf. Wide fields of white interrupted by small pointy hills of ice covered with a thin blanket of snow spread into the distance and seemed to melt in one with the sky. An ever blowing wind helped countless of snowflakes to dance through the air, some in circles, some in loops, others in complicated choreographies until they came to rest on the ground, only to be helped up again by the next breeze.

"Woah." I breathed out in awe, absentmindedly clutching tighter to the tail Ravage tried to free by twitching and pulling. Only his exasperate growling brought me back and I teasingly pulled until he bared his fangs at me. Lifting my hands in a surrendering gesture, I let go and walked past him with a smirk hidden beneath my scarf.

"Hey, there. Calm down, we've got a job to do, remember?"

"…"

I had to laugh at his scolding glare, fearing I would freeze to death if I ceased moving. My eyes were hurting already and my scarf, damp from the warm breath, was starting to freeze as well. I didn't dare ask to return to the warship. Decepticons do not run from rough circumstances. We were born in rough circumstances and a wasteland of ice was not even to be considered rough, when you saw the gladiator-pits and the mines next to it.

Ravage led me through the snow until the wind grew windier, the cold colder and the snow denser. Both of us were crouched low, fighting against the storm and when Ravage stopped I looked up and couldn't tell the earth from the sky. Searching, scanning through advanced eyes my companion slowly turned his head from side to side. The contrast of his black armor between the snow was all that kept me from losing him. Primus bless Knock Out! I suppressed the urge to grab Ravages tail and wrap it around my arm or waist out of fear of losing him.

What had been merely an hour felt like an eternity already. The fur of my hood was white, so was most of my jacket my scarf and my eyebrows. My toes felt like they would freeze off; I had lost all feeling in them, similar with my fingers and every single step hurt more but I could pull through. I would pull through. Decepticons _always _pull through.

"Any idea where the signals coming from?" I shouted over the wind, the slight cocking of Ravage's head being the only indication he had heard that I had spoken. "It's too weak for my liking. I thought they'd bridged us close by?"

Ravage turned his head, looked at me, then looked down and kept on walking. He wasn't in a much better state than me, either. His armor was covered in ice crystals and his joints were starting to freeze, movement being the only thing that kept them from doing so. A Decepticon his size, even with armor as strong as his, wouldn't be able to withstand this forever. Longer than me, surely, but even Cybertronians had their limits. So why by the pits would Lord Megatron send us on a mission like this for that long, if there was such a large possibility that we'd fail him?

Oh.

"R-ravage?" I whispered, grabbing his tail to keep him from moving.

"Did you know about this?" He pulled forward and my right sleeve tore.

"Is there even a mission, Ravage?" I needed to jog after him to keep up.

"Is there even a base?!" There was a raising of ice under the snow and I tripped and fell. The snow reached into my jacket and I hissed at the freezing cold.

"Answer me!"

He didn't stop and didn't answer, but the tail wrapping around my wrist was all I needed for comfort. It could have been better, that's for sure, but I would take all I could get and this was, at the moment, everything. The tingling numbness in my toes and fingers slowly spread. It didn't stop me from keeping on. If Ravage didn't know there was a base, he wouldn't keep going and Soundwave would never have left him. I liked to think that he would not have left me either, but this whole situation had made me averse to wishful thinking.

After only a few minutes more I started to clutch my arm and try to prevent the cold from coming that near to me. A sob escaped me as I tumbled, fell to my knees and forced myself back up. I didn't want anymore, I couldn't go further, it was so cold, I was so hungry and _so_ tired. But every time I fell, Ravage pulled me up and his tail around my arm felt like a lifeline. Then suddenly, he stopped pulling me up. Just stood and stared and when I scrambled forward to see what it was he was staring at, I could have cried tears of joy.

The base. Red lights and green lights and a wonderful, huge silhouette that looked so wee in the snowstorm. Ravage turned around and pulled me towards a jut to shield us from the wind. He lay down on the snow and I leaned against him, hugging my arm against my chest and breathing out softly.

"Okay, intercept their radiowave communication." I whispered and stared out into the white.

"… frequent, but easily fixed, so I doubt that it would cause much of a problem 'til Tanner's back. – Y'think so? I mean, I dunno, but if we stop th'excavation now there'll be loads o' trouble from up top, y'know. – We can't let it running though, it might get broken beyond repair! – They do that? – I don't know, how am I supposed to know. Tanner's responsible for them. I'm just the metallurgist!- Pfft, yeah right…"

"Wait! Metallurgist? This is an excavation side? Does Lord Megatron know this?" I asked, agitatedly. Finally, something to cling on to! And I was only strengthened in faith as he shook his head against my shoulder.

"… nything else? Man, I can't tell you how much I miss strawberries right now. Or raspberries! Something that's not been packed for the past few months…" And so the radiowaves turned from something interesting into a rambling about food and stuff they missed and wouldn't receive until they were back home. After a few minutes of silence between us – my eyelids became heavier per second – I decided to start up a more interesting conversation. I wanted a few answers or at least someone to lay my theories upon.

"Did Soundwave tell you what Lord Megatron ordered Dreadwing?"

Ravage turned his head to look at me, his big red optics trained on my expression. Apparently not.

"He's supposed to wear me out, I think. 'test my limits' like Lord Megatron put it, but it's never just that, is it? I'm not stupid. Sure, I may not know what's going on all the time, but I figured our Leader out, at least to a certain degree. He would have no problem sacrificing me in return for minor scientific progress. But what would he need it for, Ravage? Humans are of no use to him! The technology on this planet is prehistoric and the beings are weak, barely worth noticing for the race of Cybertronians. We wouldn't even have glanced this way, if it were still the golden age and that was back when we were searching for inhabited planets!"

His mouthplates suddenly formed a toothy grin and he rested his head on my chest, curling his body around mine. I wanted to lift my arm to stroke his head, but it tingled too much when I tried to move it, so I simply nuzzled my covered mouth into the nape of his neck.

I wasn't sure when exactly my shivering started, but I could barely keep my upper body from moving now. My teeth were constantly clattering against each other and it felt like every muscle in my body was tense enough to tear. There hadn't been another piece of information yet and the only reason I hadn't said anything was because I_ knew_ we couldn't just return empty handed. But the longer I lay here thinking I noticed something. For instance, my brain seemed to run slower and I was getting alarmingly tired. On top of that, I could neither move my feet nor my hands or my complete right arm. They were just tingly, motionless lumps of flesh. In a short moment of panic I jerked and caused Ravage to lift his head from its place on my chest.

"D-d-do y-ou kn-know if we c-c-c… if w-we c-could g-g-go y-yet? I c-can't feel my l-l-l-limbs any-m-m-more." I stuttered and bit my tongue a few times in the process of forcing out those few words. The people inside the hidden base were still rambling about food and Christmas, one of them complaining about wanting a turkey on Christmas eve when he would return to his family.

I ignored Ravages constant poking at my shoulder. Rather, I thought about the Christmases with Dad, when he, my foster parents and I had had Christmas dinner. The smell of the feast, the many candles all around the house and the presents under the big tree. I remembered how I bounced around the house with four, five years, clutching his hand tightly and pulling him towards the presents after he'd had to 'stand guard' next to the tree to see if Santa would come. Year for year I had asked him to wake me up, so that I could see the reindeers and the big, round man in his red coat. First his excuses had either been that he had been asleep or that Santa had been there, but had been gone so quickly again since there were other children in the world who needed their presents which he then evaluated with a very scientific and by far too complicated explanation just to make me keep believe. In primary school, when the rumor had gone around that Santa was just a story made up by the parents he had actually changed his holoform to tell me to keep believing what I knew to be true and to let nobody alter my mind about anything. He then proceeded to bury me under enormous amounts of chocolates and various other sweets and I was the last child in my grade to stop believing in Santa. Knock Out had never admitted to tricking me, though.

I fell asleep wondering about how we would celebrate this Christmas.

**Ravage Third POV**

Her core temperature had decreased drastically, Ravage hadn't wasted much thought on it though. At least not until she had asked him if they could leave without sufficient information. Of course they couldn't. Not only would Lord Megatron be displeased with them, he would lose interest in Nightbird and see her as a burden. If Megatron ordered him to dispose of her, he didn't know what he would do. He couldn't defy his orders, but killing this fragile creature that was trying with all its limited power to be one of them, killing her was unthinkable.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do without endangering one of them, so instead he focused on the radio conversation and on keeping her awake. If she were to fall into an emergency stasis now her core temperature might fall low enough to trigger a permanent offlining. And as if Primus wished ill on him; that was exactly what she did.

No poking her with his nose or shaking her with the help of his tail would get her to wake up again. In a moment of sheer panic, his processor decided that directing the heat in her body to her organs and her head was the most important thing right now. So he turned her body around and sliced the thick layers of clothing around her chest open, at the same time as he opened his own chest plates and pressed her close to his spark. On one side he listened for the conversation in the background, on the other he concentrated on their heart beats as their rhythms picked up speed and slowed down all at once. They seemed to circle around each other and he could feel her, feel the blood in her body, feel her dying appendages and the freezing cold all around her.

He seemed to reach in and pull the blood from her limbs, directing the pulsing hot flow to her chest and head while he cradled her close.

"... found out anything about the structure yet?"

It wasn't like his bond with Laserbeak or Frenzy or Soundwave. It was much weaker, much more… tender. Like it could rip any moment.

"Not really, no. 's some sort of metal tha' stretches almost all th'way 'round this excavation side. I don't even know how deep it reaches, but it's like nothin' I've ever seen before!"

It coulnd't transmit thoughts or feelings, just this steady thrumming of her heart. Almost as if sensing a presence near by, but not quite being able to touch it.

" There hasn't been any surface like this on earth before. Scientifically, it's inexplicable! Th'way the metal covers the ice suggests an extensively wide radius for some sorta explosion. Like a shockwave out of pure metal."

Was this it? Was this the information he needed? If it were cybertronium, the thick layer of ice could have shielded it from their scanners! The only free place would be the excavation side, where they had picked up a strange signal.

Noticing how Nightbird's body had gone completely limp, Ravage decided it was enough and called for a bridge. The drones had to come and carry them both back inside, since neither his nor her limbs were functional anymore.


End file.
